The world's best wellness festivals
Image David Calderón Unsplash
When the holidays are over, the first thing we start thinking about is where we’ll go next! If you’re looking for inspiration, Lonely Planet’s Wellness Escapes, is a high vibe travel handbook. With information on 200 of the best retreats and spas from around the world it’ll save you opening 4000 tabs trying to find the right place to book. Here’s a sneak peek, a count down the world’s best wellness festivals. Happy planning!
Envision Festival, Costa Rica
Set in a humble Costa Rican village where the rainforest meets the beach, Envision is all about consciousness-raising and transformation. It’s a four-day extravaganza of fire dancers, performance artists, yoga classes, astrologers, environmental workshops and dreamy beats from international musicians. www.envisionfestival.com
Wanderlust, various locations
Wanderlust holds mindful triathlons that feature yoga, meditation and a 3-mile (5km) run in 25 city parks from Santiago, Chile to Calgary, Canada. Need more? It adds mountain biking, paddle boarding and DJs to the mix at its multi-day fests in adventure towns. www.wanderlust.com
Image: Fitness On The Rocks
Fitness on the Rocks, USA
Some 10,000 people fill Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre for this day-long, mountain-surrounded fitness fest. Participants stretch in yoga classes, dance in Zumba classes and kick in martial arts classes, while DJs stoke the sweat and tears. Cool-down is via an epic water gun fight. // www.fitnessontherockscolorado.com
Image: Sandra Godin
Bhakti Fest, USA
The otherworldly landscape of Joshua Tree, California, sets the scene for six days of hardcore yoga, meditation and devotional music. Workshops cover tantric practices, the contemplation of existence and personal growth. World-renowned teachers pack the schedule. www.bhaktifest.com
International Yoga Festival, India
Held in Rishikesh, India – the birthplace of yoga – this week-long festival draws yogis from around the globe. They come for lectures and training, to flow in enormous group classes, to bliss out to chanting and tabla drums, and to meet yoga’s spiritual masters. www.internationalyogafestival.org
Bali Spirit Festival, Indonesia
Over 6000 wellness seekers descend on Ubud for a week of health and wellbeing workshops. There are yoga classes across all traditions, sitar-led meditations, dharma talks and trippy concerts featuring everything from gamelan music to bamboo flutes and tribal rock. www.balispiritfestival.com
Image Lydia Thomas
Soul Circus, UK
Buzzy wellness trends meet hip music fest at this three-day bash in England’s Cotswolds region. By day festival goers join in blindfolded yoga, aerial classes, gong baths and reggae meditation. By night they dance to funky bands and DJ-fuelled after-parties in the woods. // www.soulcircus.yoga
Image: Secret Sunrise
LoveFit, UK
LoveFit materialises for three days at a genteel estate in Kent, England. Think of it as a gym in the forest, offering yoga, spin classes, trail runs and dodgeball games amid the trees. It morphs into a glowy electronic dance music festival in the evenings. www.lovefitfestival.com
Image: Spirit Fest
SpiritFest, South Africa
A bucolic farm in South Africa’s Western Cape welcomes all who want to nourish the self. This alcohol- and smoking-free five-day event features lots of yoga, camping and even shamanic dance if you so desire it. www.spiritfest.co.za
Image: Groove Festival
Groove Festival, Various Locations
Groove puts on intimate, weekend-long gatherings that offer plenty of yoga, ambient music, creative play, sound baths and community-building workshops. Events take place in Canada and Germany, but also pop up in other countries, such as Croatia and India. www.thegroovefestival.com
Reproduced with permission from Lonely Planet © 2018.