It won’t come as a surprise that some of the best yoga festivals can be found in India. The practice and discipline of yoga can be traced back to ancient Northern India, so it only makes sense for yoga lovers to embark on a spiritual journey to the country where it all began.
Strengthen both your mind and your body in the yoga capital of the world, combine your practice with Indian classical music, or find your centre on International Yoga Day. Here are the five best yoga festivals in India you won’t regret experiencing.
International Yoga Festival
Location: Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh
- Dates: March 1-7, 2019
- Cost: Starts at $450 USD per person for non-Indian citizens
The International Yoga Festival, set in Rishikesh, known all over the world as the birthplace of yoga, has come a long way from its origins. What started as a modest gathering in the very late nineties is now a famous yoga festival that attracts a couple of thousand visitors from all over the world.
Set along the Ganga River with the Himalayan peaks towering at a close distance, the International Yoga Festival offers not only an opportunity for meditation, building up your strength and flexibility, and finding your spiritual centre, but also to connect and bond with yoga lovers from different walks of life and cultures.
Besides more than 70 hours of Yoga sessions that feature different yoga styles and renowned teachers, the festival also includes lectures, a lighting ceremony, campfires, and cultural performances.
Find out more here.
SunSunLove Yoga Solstice Fest
Location: Anantha Niketan Ashram, Tamil Nadu
- Dates: December 17-22, 2018
- Cost: Starts at $115 USD per person
Though SunSunLove’s Yoga Solstice Fest isn’t as big as the International Yoga Festival, it’s still one of the best ones worthy of a mention. They’ve got two solstice fests, one for the Summer Solstice in Barcelona and one for the upcoming Winter Solstice, to be set a stone’s throw away from the holy hill of Arunachala in Tamil Nadu, India.
This Yoga Winter Solstice Fest is about more than improving and developing your yoga and meditation practices. It’s also a celebration of life and nature, as well as solstices and equinoxes, connecting with yourself and others, singing, dancing, sharing, and communing with nature are also on the activities menu.
Find out more here.
The Yogshala Expo
Location: New Delhi, India
- Dates: May 10-12, 2019
- Cost: Free for visitors
India’s Fourth International Yoga, Health & Wellness Expo, held for three days in 2019, in the country’s capital is not exactly a yoga festival. However, this exhibit, trade show, and the conference is quite an important event for the yoga, health and wellness industry, as it connects small businesses with larger ones, among many other things.
More than twelve speakers are scheduled for the 2019 event, along with over 60 exhibitors. You don’t need to be part of the industry to attend. Potential consumers and customers are more than welcome to participate in seminars, get updated on the latest trends, and possibly even sample products.
Find out more here.
International Day of Yoga
Location: All over India
- Dates: June 21, 2019
- Cost: Many activities in different cities are free
June 21 will see the whole country—not to mention, the world—celebrating the International Day of Yoga, and just like last year, it’s going to be one big yoga festival. Last year, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, himself led a mass yoga class at the Himalayan foothills in Dehradun at sunrise, and that’s only one of the many mass yoga sessions that day. Celebrating International Yoga Day is indeed a national event, last year offices closed; schools participated, as did the Navy; and even prison inmates took part.
It’s too early to say what events are planned for the 2019 celebration, but if last year’s festivities were any indication, without any doubt, it’s going to be massive.
International Yoga & Music Festival
Location: Nada Yoga School, Swargashram, Rishikesh
- Dates: November 1 – 7, 2018
- Cost: Free, limited seating
Not to be confused with the much grander International Yoga Festival, the International Yoga & Music Festival is a yoga festival with a twist. As with the other event, it’s also set in Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world. Unlike the International Yoga Festival, it aims to amalgamate yoga practices with Indian classical and contemporary music in a week-long event.
What’s more is it’s free. All that’s asked for from attendees is one of the following three things: an offering, a service, or the passing of the knowledge (as in the Vedic tradition). Last year’s festival featured classes, discussions, meditation, performances, and concerts. While this year’s schedule hasn’t been released, it’s guaranteed to include the same activities.
Find out more here.
Have you been to a yoga festival in India? Let us know in the comments and share your experience with our community of readers!
