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If you happen to’ve been to a yoga competition, the hum that takes place. In every single place you look, there’s exercise. Attendees are unrolling their mats on the grass, lecturers are providing insights, distributors are sharing artisanal wares, and meals vans are dispensing their creations. Because the solar goes down, the stay music turns into louder and the training shifts to dancing. It’s an unparalleled expertise.
Lately, yoga festivals have advanced to enchantment to these of all expertise ranges and pursuits. Some give attention to conventional practices whereas others are extra new age-y and “glittery.” Whether or not you’re simply beginning yoga or are years into your follow, there’s a competition that can vibe with you.
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12 Yoga Festivals You Have to Know About
Though every yoga competition has its personal distinct persona, all of them share the widespread threads of connection, presence, and celebration. The next record of annual yoga festivals is way from full though it options longtime gatherings that ship schooling, inspiration, and neighborhood. Right here’s among the historical past and highlights of every.
1. Bend Yoga Competition
Bend, Oregon | June 6-9, 2024
Discover the majesty of the Cascade Mountains at Bend Yoga Festival. Located within the stunning mountain city of Bend, Oregon, this competition includes a centered mixture of world-class presenters, wellness periods, and outside adventures.
The Bend Yoga Competition takes place at Riverbend Park, providing direct entry to the flowing Deschutes River, gorgeous mountain views, and greater than 15,000 sq. toes of garden. Throughout the competition, attendees can discover close by pure sights, such because the lava caves and Smith Rock State Park. Be part of a guided hike to the highest of Smith Rock, adopted by a yoga follow and native brew tasting, or take to the river in an open paddle class.
All through the weekend, you’ll be able to be part of worldwide and regionally liked presenters together with Sianna Sherman for afternoon yoga periods at collaborating native yoga studios, all inside strolling distance of the principle venue. Lodging isn’t included, so that you’ll wish to discover a keep at an area Airbnb, campsite, or resort.
2. Mammoth Yoga Competition
Mammoth Lakes, California | June 20-23, 2024
Mammoth Yoga Festival is a getaway for these looking for journey, development, and connection in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Each September, it presents “yoga and meditation for each physique, all ages, and each potential,” making it accessible to all who want to make the pilgrimage.
Whether or not you’re a curious newbie or a yoga instructor looking for to develop your understanding of the right way to share the follow, Mammoth Competition shares an array of courses that will help you develop your follow. Previous festivals have included early morning periods on artistic yoga sequencing, the ability of cueing, and decolonizing yoga. And each night time, the Vendor Village Market lights up with performances from mystically-minded musicians, which included Trevor Hall, DJ Taz Rashid, and Cas Haley lately.
The competition is acknowledged as an accredited Persevering with Training Supplier by the Nationwide Academy of Sports activities Drugs, making it a wonderful alternative for yoga and health professionals to achieve wanted persevering with schooling credit.
3. Telluride Yoga Fest
Telluride, Colorado | June 27-30, 2024
For a completely immersive yoga expertise, the Telluride Yoga Festival is to not be missed. The four-day occasion presents greater than 100 courses, together with yoga, meditation, music, mountain climbing, wellness talks, and social gatherings. The occasion takes place amid the intimate setting of a small village nestled on the base of the Telluride Mountains, surrounded by rugged peaks, mountain air, and crisp blue skies.
Begin your day with a mountain-top meditation, hike the fan-favorite Jud Wiebe memorial path, or just sleep in. With its campus in Mountain Village, linked to the historic City of Telluride by way of a free gondola, the competition supplies a singular gathering that’s completely faraway from the hubbub of on a regular basis life. The competition has hosted among the most well-seasoned yoga academics, together with Kia Miller, Hawah, Scott Blossom, and Noah Maze.
Telluride presents a number of inns, condos, and personal residences that cater to each funds.
4. OM Competition
Manchester, Vermont | July 24-28, 2024
Dance, circulate, and play your solution to wellness on the annual OM Festival, a summerfest held on 150-plus mountainside acres overlooking the Battenkill River. Often known as the Vermont Yoga Competition, it presents 5 days of yoga, meditation, dance, and circulate arts courses the place festival-goers can circulate, play, and groove.
The OM Competition combines pure magnificence and historic appeal. Lessons happen in a 200-year-old barn on the expansive non-public grounds and within the completely coiffed meditation backyard. At night time, the competition comes alive with music and embodiment celebrations, together with kirtan, bhakti yoga, and ecstatic dance DJs.
Most friends keep on-site, both at The West Mountain Inn, the hub of the competition, or camp in a non-public subject or alongside the river (river campsites are restricted and promote out rapidly). These staying on the inn can anticipate romantic, antique-y rooms, mountain views, and farm-fresh eating.
5. LoveShinePlay
Asheville, North Carolina | July 25-28, 2024
The LoveShinePlay Festival, previously often known as the Asheville Yoga Competition, is a four-day occasion held in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The competition presents an expansive schedule that features greater than 70 kinds of choices, together with Bhakti and anatomy, Kundalini and yin, and every thing in between.
Asheville is taken into account the wellness capital of the South, and the competition takes benefit of its environment, permitting attendees to develop their information and follow within the coronary heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. All through the weekend, attendees can expertise lectures on sensible astrology, Ayurvedic yoga courses, “yin yoga and story time,” plus courses and live shows from DJ Drez and MC Yogi.
Lessons are dispersed round Asheville in inns, neighborhood facilities, and outside phases, all walkable from {the marketplace}. The central hub for the competition, {the marketplace} options hand-selected distributors providing high-quality wellness merchandise. You’ll additionally discover meals vans, free neighborhood occasions, and outside areas to relaxation.
6. Soul Circus
Elmore, UK | August 15-18, 2024
Spearheaded by its charismatic founders, Roman and Ella Wroath, Soul Circus is a holistic yoga, arts, and music competition set within the rural countryside of Cotswold, United Kingdom. The mix of yoga asana, wellness workshops, and stay music is undeniably extra glittery wellness rave than conventional yoga competition. With its world-renowned DJs and afterparties that final till 2 am, Soul Circus desires that will help you tune in and let unfastened.
By day, stretch out in yoga tents dotted alongside the countryside or be part of sought-after yoga instructors and wellness practitioners in any of the 300-plus wellness periods, together with cacao ceremonies, astral projection, lucid dreaming, and ecstatic dance.
As the sunshine fades, the competition takes on a wholly totally different vibe. DJs set the skies alight with exhilarating music and dance. Those that want a reset after a marathon dance session can settle right into a wood-fired scorching tub or sauna on the on-site Soul Spa, which additionally presents daytime holistic remedy periods.
Soul Circus is an undoubtedly energetic and distinctive yoga expertise.
7. Soiled South Yoga Competition
Atlanta, Georgia | August 23-25, 2024
The Dirty South Yoga Festival is a homegrown celebration that’s all about creating neighborhood and selling mindfulness in a means that embraces a “tough across the edges” power.
Based in 2013 by a gaggle of Atlanta-based yoga academics, Soiled South Yoga arose from a necessity for genuine connection within the wellness neighborhood. The group cites the Zen Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh and his well-known saying “No mud, no lotus” as a foundational inspiration and would be the first to confess they’re not prim and correct. They repeatedly follow falling and attempt to present as much as themselves, their follow, and one another as finest they’ll.
The competition takes place at The Loudermilk Convention Heart in downtown Atlanta, the place individuals can enjoy a complete weekend of workshops, courses, and actions. Founder Jessica Murphy has stated she is aware of what it’s wish to lengthy for connection within the yoga world, and with Soiled South Yoga, she hopes to supply a spot of assist, steerage, and friendship.
8. Bhakti Fest
Joshua Tree, California | September 27-29, 2024
A “yoga and acutely aware music competition,” Bhakti Fest continues to domesticate self-awareness and neighborhood because it has for greater than a decade. Organized by the nonprofit Heart for Non secular Research, the three-day desert gatherings in Joshua Tree Nationwide Park ship instruments for “self-discovery and interior achievement” and encourage attendees to “discover numerous religious traditions, interact in heartfelt dialogue, and forge significant connections that transcend boundaries.”
In alignment with the custom of bhakti, the intention behind the competition is “to create a deep sense of neighborhood that celebrates variety and honors the common ideas of compassion, peace, and repair.” The lineup reads like a who’s who of yoga academics, together with Dianne Bondy, Susanna Barkataki, Seane Corne, Shiva Rea, Janet Stone, Harpinder Kaur Mann, Andrew Sealy, and so many extra. Featured musicians embody Krishna Das, MC Yogi, and greater than a dozen others.
Bhakti Fest promotes itself as a family-friendly, alcohol- and drug-free vacation spot. Lodging choices embody campsite, trailer, and RV hook-ups for many who want to reap the benefits of the stargazing afforded by the desert. Close by inns and home leases are additionally out there.
9. Lamu Yoga Competition
Lamu Island, Kenya | October 30-November 3, 2024
From dawn yoga periods on pristine seashores to moonlit meditations beneath the celebrities, Lamu Yoga Festival emphasizes whole, undisturbed bliss. This celebration of yoga, tradition, and tranquility occurs within the coastal area of Kenya and immerses in a world of serenity, tradition, and conscious exploration.
Yoga, breathwork, and meditation are taught at a dozen distinctive venues and studios. Uncover the attract of Lamu Previous City, a UNESCO World Heritage Website, with its charming structure and charming historical past. Expertise the native tradition and traditions via an awe-inspiring opening ceremony on the seaside, a conventional Kenyan dinner, a scenic crusing journey, and a mesmerizing bonfire to shut your journey.
Coming in 2025
10. Worldwide Yoga Competition
Banks of Ganges River, India | March 9-15, 2025
Per week-long celebration of yoga and meditation, the International Yoga Festival in Rishikesh, India, attracts hundreds of individuals from world wide to the birthplace of yoga. Nestled among the many Himalayas on the banks of the holy River Ganga, the competition takes place at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, one of many largest interfaith yoga establishments in India. It’s a tranquil setting the place individuals can join with themselves and their religious follow.
The intention of the Worldwide Yoga Competition is to “develop world consciousness and convey therapeutic again to the planet, one particular person at a time.” In assist of that, it hosts among the biggest academics from each japanese and western lineages of yoga, making it a perfect pilgrimage for devoted college students trying to join with the origins of the follow.
The intensive schedule features a mind-boggling array of actions, from early morning kundalini sadhana to night kirtan and every thing in between, together with asana courses and dharma talks. It repeatedly attracts greater than 2,000 individuals from 80 international locations, providing a singular alternative to come back collectively and share within the transformative energy of yoga. The competition’s emphasis on the origins of the follow is a testomony to yoga’s enduring spirit, affect, and talent to unite folks within the pursuit of development and well-being.
11. Sedona Yoga Competition
Sedona, Arizona | Might 1-4, 2025
Many imagine that sure places on the planet expertise a better vibrational power than others. With its seven vortices, or power facilities, Sedona is a kind of locations. The Sedona Yoga Festival, now in its tenth 12 months, attracts on this enigmatic power to foster neighborhood and religious development.
Billed as a “consciousness evolution convention,” the competition boasts a powerful roster of audio system and wealthy coursework and continues to be a pioneer of large-scale conscious occasions in the US. Workshops and immersions happen amid Sedona’s mystical panorama and world-class performing arts services and supply alternatives to discover all eight limbs of yoga.
Attendees can collect within the mornings for a communal ceremony earlier than dispersing into lectures or desert excursions. There are greater than 100 periods to select from, together with yoga practices amid the purple rocks. Evenings function keynote addresses from top-tier religious minds, lectures, sacred chanting periods, and stay leisure.
12. BaliSpirit
Ubud, Bali | Dates TBD
If training yoga in Bali is your dream, the BaliSpirit Festival in Ubud could be the final vacation spot. Held yearly on the Yoga Barn Ubud, this three-day “spirit competition” encompasses yoga, dance, martial arts, breathwork, private improvement, and extra, making it a catalyst for transformation.
A magnet for acutely aware vacationers and religious seekers, BaliSpirit has grown significantly because it was based in 2008, bringing financial development and evolution to the city of Ubud. Held in a conventional Balinese open-air venue surrounded by wildlife and flanked by a sacred river, the fest presents a singular alternative for attendees to attach with themselves, others, and the environment.
The holistic strategy of the competition is mirrored in its greater than 150 workshops representing totally different kinds of yoga (together with Hatha, yin, Anusara, and Ashtanga) in addition to different kinds of motion (Capoeira, Qi Gong, Silat, Poi, Laughter, and hula hooping). Every night time ends with a musical lineup of world performers, creating an intimate live performance expertise resulting in deeper connections and sacred celebration.
This text has been up to date. Initially printed Might 17, 2023.
