A relatively new niche in the world of music festivals, Wanderlust festival is a summer gathering of yogis and music lovers who get together in scenic spots outside major North American cities to enjoy music by famous singers and DJs, and learn from celebrity yoga teachers.
A fusion of yoga, nature and music, Wanderlust is held in popular mountain resorts; this year the festival has already taken placen at Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont in June and Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado earlier this month. The next stop is Squaw Valley in California (July 26-29), followed by Whistler in British Columbia (August 23-26).
“The yogis who practiced in the palaces of Mysore, India in the early 1900s probably never expected that yoga would be taught at the top of a ski resort in Whistler or Tahoe to the sounds of Thievery Corporation, yet the evolution seems so natural when you step back and look at it,” Eoin Finch wrote in lululemon’s blog.
“Both Wanderlust and Woodstock have music playing late into the night, along with vendors and caravans of smiling, free-spirited people talking of peace and love,” Finch explained. “What’s different? The brown acid of the 60s has been replaced with downdogs, Trikonasanas and Tantric philosophy.”
To give you a feel for the venue, the music Wanderlusters will experience this year includes Thievery Corporation, Quixotic, Krishna Das and MC Yogi. The celebrity yoga instructors include names like Baron Baptiste, Sianna Sherman, Seane Corn, and Janet Stone.
In addition to music and yoga, Wanderlust offers farm to table dining, produced by top chefs using fresh produce from local farmers, and wine from nearby wineries. They also have a Beauty Bar, which offers natural and organic treatments and products, outdoor expeditions and hikes, and the Wanderlust Healing Sanctuary, which includes wellness services like acupuncture, massage, energy work, chiropractic and applied kinesiology.
Less active activities include the Hay House Speakeasy lecture series, which will bring in renowned speakers like Shiva Rea, Seane Cornn and Dr. Wayne Dyer, and the Hay House Soulful Cinema is showing films like The Shift, Crazy Wisdom, The Highest Pass, and Kumare.
After attending last year’s Wanderlust, lululemon put together a blog post on top things to expect at the festival, which included tips like:
“You will find yourself doing something you never thought you would do, whether it’s tipping over in Bakasana for the first time or dancing in Navasana in Jonny Kest’s Detox Flow on Sunday morning, even though you purposefully did not schedule yourself for any classes that had ‘spontaneous dancing’ in the description.”
and:
“You will realize, multiple times, how grateful you are to be exactly where you are, in the body that you have now.”
Have you ever been to Wanderlust festival? What are your thoughts on fusion fests like this one?