Wellness Festivals

World Wellness Weekend began in France in 2017 and has grown into a global weekend of free classes and open sessions — yoga, meditation, fitness and spa taster sessions — hosted by wellness venues each September to introduce people to practices they might not otherwise try. Wellness festivals more broadly bring the same range of practices together in one place over several days, pairing movement and mindfulness sessions with talks, food and community. The format sits between a single-day awareness campaign and a destination retreat, run mostly by participating venues rather than a central organiser. Some festivals run for a single weekend, others stretch across a full week, but nearly all combine ticketed sessions with at least some free public programming.