Wellness festivals are on the rise. Here’s what you should know.

Self-care tends to focus on (surprise!) the self. It’s an individual matter, a process of learning what you need to enhance your well-being and then incorporating those practices into your life.

But what if your wellness didn’t have to exist in a container? What if there was an entire festival circuit working to promote similar renewal through collective co-organisation? This possibility becomes a reality at wellness festivals, a new guard of wellness retreats that expand the scope of the up-and-coming trend by making “healing” a collective endeavor—and a reason to celebrate.

What is the Wellness Festival?

Before getting into the “what” of a wellness festival, Radha Agrawal suggests taking a moment to reframe the word “wellness.” He co-founded Agrawal Dawna substance-free sunrise dance party that has grown to include popular practices like cold plunges and sauna sessions, believes that “wellness” has been flattened into “green juices and expensive retreats.” In other words, it is inaccessible and, at times, unwelcome.

“A true healthy gathering is something much older and much more urgent: it is any intentional space where human beings are invited to arrive whole, body, mind and spirit, and leave more alive than when they entered,” she says. “That’s it. That’s the whole definition.”

With this broader vision in mind, contemporary wellness festivals offer the kind of mindfulness modalities you know and love (Yoga, Breathing, They chantwe could go on), complemented by music, art and an overall festive atmosphere. While traditional retreats tend to encourage you to move forward with group support, this new generation of wellness retreats asks you to take your transformational journey alongside those around you.

Aria Nix, Founder Transcendence Festivala wellness gathering held annually on the East Coast, notes that the opportunity to embrace self-care in good company is a big draw for many attendees. “There is something incredibly powerful about sharing this type of environment with hundreds of people all seeking to grow, heal, and connect,” she says. “It’s incredibly powerful.”

What can you expect at the Wellness Festival?

Think of most wellness festivals as the natural evolution of a typical yoga retreat. Of course, you should spend some time on your mat. But you’ll also enjoy workshops on embodiment and personal development, sound healing, a wide range of mindfulness movements, and ample opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with resident experts – and everyone else. There’s also likely to be a DJ or two encouraging you to get up and dance, and perhaps there’s a chance to enjoy some group sauna, cold plunge or forest bath time.

Inclusivity is also important. If you ask Robin King, founder and director Smoky Mountain Yoga and Wellness FestivalA wellness festival should attract people of all ages so that the whole family is eager to participate. “Families are looking for events that everyone can join: mom, dad, kids, grandparents, grandchildren, and those with physical and mental challenges,” she says, adding that the goal is to stimulate a wellness journey that continues beyond the confines of the gathering. “We want attendees to leave feeling enlightened, but more importantly, hungry for more. More information. More knowledge. More community.”

While the activities are undoubtedly beneficial, it is the sense of belonging, engagement and shared intention that separates wellness festivals from others. And the movement is growing.

Take a daybreaker. What started as a sunrise dance party in 2013 has now become a series of global wellness initiatives aimed at helping attendees feel their best together. Daybreaker’s HEATWAVE, a collaboration recently hosted in New York with Modern Bathroom Otherallows participants to move from sauna to cold plunge to breathe together. Another recent event, ALIVE: LDN in London, added a three-way dance and a full day of DJ sets to the mix.

“I’ve seen people emerge from cold plunges fully electric, pupils wide, smiling at strangers,” says Agarwal, who is also studying how Daybreaker experiences involving forest bathing, breathing at altitude, or a communal float tank could take shape. “This is real-time co-regulation. This is what we are after.”

The power of collective healing

The whole concept of experiencing transformation as a group is more than just talk. If you have ever been to a yoga resort, Yoga festivalOr even a good yoga class or dance floor, you are aware of the tremendous transformations that can occur in the presence of others. There is something about the shared energy that makes it move through you more intensely.

In fact, Agarwal and her team are currently conducting a study at UC Berkeley tracking collective dread. “Teach shared joy, dance and belonging,” she says. “For the first time we have the tools to measure what we have always felt in our bones: that collective movement is medicine.”

Also, generations like Gen-Z tend to prioritize luxury in most things, including… He travelsAnd abstain from it to a large extent Fueled by alcohol Popular festivals among previous generations. But we must meet! Doing so with overall healing in mind makes sense.

For her part, Nix believes wellness festivals are gaining popularity because we collectively realize that well-being is not something that can be divided. “It touches every aspect of life: how we move, how we work, how we communicate with others, and how we take care of ourselves,” she says.

It might just be enjoying a new kind of party, one that makes you feel fully energized and a new kind of commitment to self-care—in community.