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When you’ve been to a yoga festival, the hum that takes place. In all places you look, there’s activity. Attendees are unrolling their mats on the grass, lecturers are offering insights, vendors are sharing artisanal wares, and food trucks are meting out their creations. Because the sun goes down, the live music becomes louder and the educational shifts to dancing. It’s an unparalleled experience.
Lately, yoga festivals have evolved to appeal to those of all experience levels and interests. Some concentrate on traditional practices while others are more latest age-y and “glittery.” Whether you’re just starting yoga or are years into your practice, there’s a festival that may vibe with you.
Although each yoga festival has its own distinct personality, all of them share the common threads of connection, presence, and celebration. The next list explores 11 annual yoga festivals together with a number of the history and highlights of every.
11 Yoga Festivals You Must Know About
1. Bend Yoga Festival
Bend, Oregon | June 8-11, 2023
Explore the majesty of the Cascade Mountains at Bend Yoga Festival. Situated in the gorgeous mountain town of Bend, Oregon, this festival contains a focused mixture of world-class presenters, wellness sessions, and outdoor adventures.
This yr, the Bend Yoga Festival moves to Riverbend Park, offering direct access to the flowing Deschutes River, stunning mountain views, and greater than 15,000 square feet of lawn. Through the festival, attendees can explore nearby natural attractions, equivalent to the lava caves and Smith Rock State Park. Join a guided hike to the highest of Smith Rock, followed by a yoga practice and native brew tasting, or take to the river in an open paddle class.
Throughout the weekend, you possibly can join international and locally loved presenters including Sianna Sherman and Annie Carpenter for afternoon yoga sessions at participating local yoga studios, all inside walking distance of the predominant venue. You may as well schedule your personal yoga photo shoot with acclaimed photographer Robert Sturman. Lodging isn’t included, so that you’ll want to seek out a stay at an area Airbnb, campsite, or hotel.
2. Telluride Yoga Fest
Telluride, Colorado | June 22-25, 2023
For a completely immersive yoga experience, the Telluride Yoga Festival just isn’t to be missed. The four-day event offers greater than 100 classes, including yoga, meditation, music, mountain climbing, wellness talks, and social gatherings. The event takes place amid the intimate setting of a small village nestled at the bottom of the Telluride Mountains, surrounded by rugged peaks, mountain air, and crisp blue skies.
Start your day with a mountain-top meditation, hike the fan-favorite Jud Wiebe memorial trail, practice standup paddleboard (SUP) yoga on Elk Lake, or just sleep-in. With its latest campus in Mountain Village, connected to the historic Town of Telluride via a free gondola, the festival provides a novel gathering that’s entirely faraway from the hubbub of on a regular basis life. The festival has hosted a number of the most well-seasoned yoga teachers, including Kia Miller, Sally Kempton, Hawah, Scott Blossom, and Noah Maze.
Telluride offers a number of hotels, condos, and personal residences that cater to each budget.
3. LoveShinePlay
Asheville, North Carolina | July 20-23, 2023
The LoveShinePlay Festival, formerly referred to as the Asheville Yoga Festival, is a four-day event held in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The festival offers an expansive schedule that features greater than 70 sorts of offerings, including Bhakti and anatomy, Kundalini and Yin, and every part in between.
Asheville is taken into account the wellness capital of the South, and the festival takes advantage of its surroundings, allowing attendees to expand their knowledge and practice in the guts of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Throughout the weekend, attendees can experience lectures on practical astrology, Ayurvedic yoga classes, “yin yoga and story time,” plus classes and live shows from DJ Drez and MC Yogi.
Classes are dispersed around Asheville in hotels, community centers, and outdoor stages, all walkable from the marketplace. The central hub for the festival, the marketplace features 60-plus hand-selected vendors offering high-quality wellness products. You’ll also find food trucks, free community events, and outdoor spaces to rest.
LoveShinePlay began in 2016 because the Asheville Yoga Festival and has since grown to incorporate partnerships with Lululemon and Yoloha. In 2024, the festival will expand and offer an identical incarnation in Charleston.
4. OM Festival
Manchester, Vermont | July 26-30, 2023
Dance, flow, and play your method to wellness on the annual OM Festival, a summerfest held on 150-plus mountainside acres overlooking the Battenkill River. Also referred to as the Vermont Yoga Festival, it offers five days of yoga, meditation, dance, and flow arts classes where festival-goers can flow, play, and groove.
The OM Festival combines natural beauty and historic charm. Classes happen in a 200-year-old barn on the expansive private grounds and in the peerlessly coiffed meditation garden. At night, the festival comes alive with music and embodiment celebrations, including kirtan, bhakti yoga, and ecstatic dance DJs.
Most guests stay on-site, either at The West Mountain Inn, the hub of the festival, or camp in a personal field or alongside the river (river camp sites are limited and sell out quickly). Those staying on the inn can expect romantic, antique-y rooms, mountain views, and farm-fresh dining.
5. Soul Circus
Elmore, UK | August 17-20, 2023
Soul Circus one way or the other manages to be each healthy and hedonistic. And one way or the other it really works. Spearheaded by the charismatic founders, Roman and Ella Wroath, Soul Circus is a holistic yoga, arts, and music festival set in the agricultural countryside of Cotswold, United Kingdom. The mix of yoga asana, wellness workshops, and live music is undeniably more glittery wellness rave than traditional yoga festival. With its world-renowned DJs and afterparties that last until 2 am, Soul Circus desires to assist you to tune in and set free.
By day, stretch out in yoga tents dotted along the countryside or join sought-after yoga instructors and wellness practitioners in any of the 300-plus wellness sessions, including cacao ceremonies, astral projection, lucid dreaming, and ecstatic dance. It’s a probability to indulge your woo-woo side.
As the sunshine fades, the festival takes on a completely different vibe. DJs set the skies alight with exhilarating music and dance. Those that need a reset after a marathon dance session can settle right into a wood-fired hot tub or sauna on the on-site Soul Spa, which also offers daytime holistic therapy sessions.
Soul Circus is an undoubtedly energetic and unique yoga experience.
6. Dirty South Yoga Festival
Atlanta, Georgia | August 25-27, 2023
The Dirty South Yoga Festival, held at the tip of August, is a homegrown celebration that’s all about promoting community and mindfulness in a way that embraces the “rough around the perimeters” energy of the South.
Founded in 2013 by a bunch of Atlanta-based yoga teachers, Dirty South Yoga arose from a necessity for authentic connection within the wellness community. The group cites the Zen Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh and his famous saying “No mud, no lotus” as a foundational inspiration and will likely be the primary to confess they’re not prim and proper. They repeatedly practice falling and check out to point out as much as themselves, their practice, and one another as best they will.
The festival takes place at The Loudermilk Conference Center in downtown Atlanta, where participants can experience a complete weekend of workshops, classes, and activities. Founder Jessica Murphy has said she knows what it’s wish to long for connection within the yoga world, and with Dirty South Yoga, she hopes to offer a spot of support, guidance, and friendship. It’s yoga, real and raw.
7. Mammoth Yoga Festival
Mammoth Lakes, California | September 14-17, 2023
Mammoth Yoga Festival is a getaway for those searching for adventure, growth, and connection in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Every September, it offers “yoga and meditation for one and all, all ages, and each ability,” making it accessible to all who want to make the pilgrimage.
Whether you’re a curious beginner or a yoga teacher searching for to expand your understanding of the way to share the practice, Mammoth Festival shares an array of classes to assist you to develop your practice. Anyone can attend early morning sessions on creative yoga sequencing, the ability of cueing, and decolonizing yoga. And each night, the Vendor Village Market lights up with performances from mystically-minded musicians, which included Trevor Hall, DJ Taz Rashid, and Cas Haley in recent times.
Weekend asana and meditation classes from teachers equivalent to Hannah Muse and Eric Paskel will assist you to settle a restless spirit and immerse yourself in the current. Also, presentations from yoga and health institutions equivalent to Mammoth Hospital and the work trade and job opportunity website, Yoga Trade, allow instructors to diversify their teaching tools beyond advanced asana. The festival is recognized as an approved Continuing Education Provider by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, making it a wonderful opportunity for yoga and fitness professionals to achieve needed continuing education credits.
8. Lamu Yoga Festival
Lamu Island, Kenya | October 25-29, 2023
From sunrise yoga sessions on pristine beaches to moonlit meditations beneath the celebs, Lamu Yoga Festival emphasizes total, undisturbed bliss. This celebration of yoga, culture, and tranquility happens within the coastal region of Kenya and immerses in a world of serenity, culture, and mindful exploration.
Yoga, breathwork, and meditation are taught at a dozen unique venues and studios. Discover the allure of Lamu Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its charming architecture and fascinating history. With no cars in sight and donkeys and boats as an alternative dotting the landscape, the scene creates a real escape from the on a regular basis. Experience the local culture and traditions through an awe-inspiring opening ceremony on the beach, a standard Kenyan dinner, a scenic sailing trip, and a mesmerizing bonfire to shut your journey.
9. International Yoga Festival
Banks of Ganges River, India | March 2024
Per week-long celebration of yoga and meditation, the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh, India, attracts 1000’s of individuals from world wide to the birthplace of yoga. Nestled among the many Himalayas on the banks of the holy River Ganga, the festival takes place at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, one among the most important interfaith yoga institutions in India. It’s a tranquil environment where participants can connect with themselves and their spiritual practice.
The aim of the International Yoga Festival is to “expand global consciousness and convey healing back to the planet, one person at a time.” In support of that, it hosts a number of the best teachers from each eastern and western lineages of yoga, making it an excellent pilgrimage for dedicated students trying to connect with the origins of the practice.
The extensive schedule features a mind-boggling array of activities, from early morning kundalini sadhana to evening kirtan and every part in between, including asana classes and dharma talks. It repeatedly draws greater than 2000 participants from 80 countries, offering a novel opportunity to come back together and share within the transformative power of yoga. The festival’s emphasis on the origins of the practice is a testament to yoga’s enduring spirit, influence, and skill to unite people within the pursuit of growth and well-being.
10. Sedona Yoga Festival
Sedona, Arizona | April 2024
Many consider that certain locations on the planet experience a better vibrational energy than others. With its seven vortices, or energy centers, Sedona is one among those places. The Sedona Yoga Festival, now in its tenth yr, draws on this enigmatic energy to foster community and spiritual growth.
Billed as a “consciousness evolution conference,” the festival boasts a powerful roster of speakers and wealthy coursework and continues to be a pioneer of large-scale mindful events in america. Workshops and immersions happen amid Sedona’s mystical landscape and world-class performing arts facilities and offer opportunities to explore all eight limbs of yoga.
Attendees can gather within the mornings for a communal ceremony before dispersing into lectures or desert excursions. There are greater than 100 sessions to pick from, including yoga practices amid the red rocks. Evenings feature keynote addresses from top-tier spiritual minds, lectures, sacred chanting sessions, and live entertainment.
11. BaliSpirit
Ubud, Bali | May 2024
If practicing yoga in Bali is your dream, the BaliSpirit Festival in Ubud stands out as the ultimate destination. Held annually on the Yoga Barn Ubud, this three-day “spirit festival” encompasses yoga, dance, martial arts, breathwork, personal development, and more, making it a catalyst for transformation.
A magnet for conscious travelers and spiritual seekers, BaliSpirit has grown considerably because it was founded in 2008, bringing economic growth and evolution to the town of Ubud. Held in a standard Balinese open-air venue surrounded by wildlife and flanked by a sacred river, the fest offers a novel opportunity for attendees to attach with themselves, others, and the environment.
The holistic approach of the festival is reflected in its greater than 150 workshops representing different sorts of yoga (including Hatha, Yin, Anusara, and Ashtanga) in addition to other varieties of movement (Capoeira, Qi Gong, Silat, Poi, Laughter, and hula hooping). Each night ends with a musical lineup of worldwide performers, creating an intimate concert experience resulting in deeper connections and sacred celebration.
About Our Contributor
Sierra is a author, yogi, and music lover living within the Pacific Northwest. She’s been practicing yoga for nearly a decade & got certified to show in 2018. She writes and teaches all about connection: connection to the body, to nature, and to the universal love that holds us together. She’s also the creator of Your 12 months of Magic, a moon magic journal and witchy workbook.
Without cost yoga and witchy wisdom, find Sierra at thelocalmystic.com, on Instagram @thelocalmystic, and on YouTube.