Getting in the mood already for a couple of festivals this summer? Well, luckily the list down below has got some amazing options for you! Scroll down and have a look!
These spiritual festivals go from yoga festivals to tantra festivals. So there is something suitable for everyone.
And if you just love to go to them all, then it might be good to take a gap year and just visit them all ;).
Why go to a spiritual festival?
You can ask yourself now why it would be good to go to a spiritual festival, of course. Well, it’s always great to meet like-minded people. This will mean that you will meet a lot of new friends, get new connections, and replenish your soul.
Spiritual festivals are not only great to get to know new people and to enjoy the plenty of workshops that they are offering. But if you are a yoga teacher, meditation facilitator, … or you just have a business, then going to a festival might give you all kinds of new contacts that you might be able to use. This way it’s a bit of a live Facebook or Pinterest page to get clients.
If you don’t have your own business, don’t worry about it, you’ll still meet a lot of like-minded people. As it sometimes might be a bit lonely on the alternative path when you are living in your city. I know that when I started doing yoga, no one in my area was doing it as well. There weren’t even any nice festivals going on to promote a spiritual lifestyle.
Festivals Vs. Retreats
Going to a spiritual festival, like a yoga festival or a meditation festival, isn’t the same thing as going to a retreat. Your intentions are going to be a bit different and it’s good to have a look at what you are looking for.
As I mentioned before, a festival is more a place of getting in touch with other people than really going into the depths of your soul. There are a lot of workshops there, but of course, there will be more people there as well. This means that you can’t expect to really get some individual attention and therefore it might not go as deep as you’d like. Of course, you can always share your experiences with the surrounding people as there will be many therapeutic alternative healers, or whatever they’d like to call them these days ;).
A good thing about being a part of meditations with hundreds of people is that you’ll be lifted by the energy of everyone around you. This is one of the reasons what I like about going to a festival, you won’t be needing any drugs or alcohol to enjoy yourself as you’ll be lifted by the vibration of everybody else. This makes going to a festival a very pure and loving experience.
Of course, if you’d like to have personal attention and you’d like to go deep within your soul or heart, going to a retreat is always better. Retreats normally don’t have that many attendants and you’ll be getting the guidance to work on the things that will come up.
Here I will talk about the perfect itinerary if you’d like to have a whole summer filled with the loving energy of spiritual retreats!
space of love festival, sweden
This festival is great to do with the whole family. Not only will you find a lot of yoga workshops to choose from, but you’ll also have some music, kids’ workshops, and more. The festival itself isn’t that big, so prepare yourself to connect with everyone around you! This makes it a great place to find like-minded people, without being overwhelmed by a whole crowd.
The festival itself will take place at a campsite called Boda Sand, it’s on an island, Ćland, near the mainland of Sweden, which makes it a lovely and quiet place. The perks of being on an island as well are that you’ll be surrounded by beaches. So if you’d like to retreat from all the surrounding people, you can always take a little time for yourself at the beach. Be careful though as the sea in Sweden isn’t that warm to swim in. But of course, the Swedish people don’t mind that ;).
Find more information here on how to get to the festival.
Ā
Sexibility festival, Sweden
If you aren’t ready to leave Sweden, then the Sexsibility Festival might be a good one to attend as well.
This festival is a Tantra festival. And what a lot of people think, especially with a name like Sexsibility, is that it’s all about getting laid. Also, if people hear the word tantra, the first thought that comes to mind is sex. This isn’t the case though. Tantra is all about creating an intimate relationship, in the first place with yourself. And after that comes creating an intimate relationship with others. This doesn’t have to be sexual at all, but this can go from walking hand in hand without even having any expectation, nor having a physical relationship with that person.
Of course, there might be sex involved, if that’s what you want, but that’s not the main goal. You’ll have many opportunities to meet with people, connect with them in whatever way you’d like and you can attend many workshops to discover more about tantra.
ThisĀ is a must if you are really into exploring your sexuality, even if it’s just about learning how to get intimate with someone. As said, I’m not talking about just a sexual experience, it’s about learning to love yourself and others unconditionally.
Agni spirit festival, Spain
Agni is Sanskrit for Fire. This means that your internal fire will be lit during this festival. Be aware though, as there is no space for actual fires during the festival due to drought.
This festival is all about shamanism and honouring the spirits, as the name itself says as well. There will be dancing, yoga, meditation and much more.
The nice thing about this festival is that there will be ceremonies involved as well. Dive into the cultures of the ancient tribes and discover some of the wisdom they had. The ceremonies are really old, but they still have a lot of value as our ancestors had a great connection with nature and the animals all around them.
Maybe you’ll even find your spirit animal duringĀ this festival?
OSHO FESTIVAL, PORTUGAL
This festival is my absolute favorite and I wouldn’t want to miss an edition at all! Here’s actually where I’ve received my Osho Sanyassin name.
During the whole week, you’ll be able to enjoy a lot of OshoĀ active meditations, workshops, lectures, and more. The meditations themselves have been a saviour for me as I love the fact that they use the body as an instrument to go into meditation. Osho has thought pretty well about creating these techniques. And if you already know about them, it would be a great opportunity to do them in a large group.
The festival itself doesn’t attract the big mass. Every year there are around 200 people on the entire week. Which is a perfect number for everyone who’d like to connect with others on a deeper level. It’s a great space to talk about everything that’s going on in your life and a lot of loving people there will be able to give you advice and even a hug itself is already healing.
The organizers Harida and Nartan are great friends of mine and I hold them dear to my heart. They’ve got a wonderful place, with an even more wonderful view. So just for that, it would already be great to visit this festival. The two of them lead most of the music and meditations that will be taking place and you could feel that they still carry Osho in their hearts.
With that said, justĀ book your ticket nowĀ and I would love to see you there next year ;).
AWAKE DANCE FESTIVAL, PORTUGAL
Not that far away from the Osho festival, you’ll find Awakeland. Great thing is that you don’t need to have moves like Jagger to attend this Dance Festival.
Within this festival, they use dance as a way into meditation. It’s all about finding your inner movement and it’s a great release of energy as well. During this festival, you’ll be guided into the depths of your inner movements and by tapping into this, you’ll find yourself going into ecstasy.
If you’ve never experienced something likeĀ thisĀ before, it’s something that you have to do. Don’t worry if you think that you’re not such a good dancer, as there are no dancing techniques required.
BALTIC TANTRA FESTIVAL, LATVIA
This year will be the fourth edition already of this amazing festival that will take place in Latvia.
You will find a lot of great teachers here that will take you into the depths of your (sexual) energy.
And I’m using sexual energy as this is a completely different thing than having sex. When we are working with this energy it incorporates more than just the act of making love.
Doing Tantra work is more about how you relate to yourself and with others. Rather than just jumping on each other for some fun.
There will be a lot of workshops where you can connect with yourself and with others, in a spiritual and loving way. Which is what Tantra is about.
The festival hasn’t reached a 1000 participants per festival yet, making it a smaller one.
However, when we are talking about tantra festivals, it’s always great to have a smaller audience.
This way it’s really great to connect with others and be a (spiritual) family. And yes, in general Tantra festivals are really forming an amazing family you can talk and relate to!
The tickets itself aren’t that badly priced either. If you are working with a lower budget, you can go for the camping option. This will cost you ā¬200 for the four days, all workshops and 3 (vegetarian) meals included. If you are looking for some private sessions, this will of course cost you a little extra.
For more information about the prices, you can have a look at their website.
Are you ready to celebrate, love and heal? Click here for more information about this amazing festival!
Impulse festival, France
This festival is especially for those between 18-35 years old. The so-called generation Y and Z. We are the future, but yet we have faced already so much criticism from our ancestors. We’ve heard that we are growing lazy, that we don’t know the value of the world anymore, and that we are way too much on our computers. Well, some of those things might be true, but we are the generation that has to deal with the crap that our ancestors have created.
Ā
This festival is just for us, to make sure that we are ready for the challenges ahead of us. During this festival there will be a lot of divers workshops, going from tantra to yoga, traditional chanting or bodywork. There is something for everyone. And besides that, it might be nice to hang out and get to know our generation a little bit better.
Ā
The festival takes place at the ground of a chateau, which is the fancy French word for castle. It is stunning to be on the grounds of this castle. So, ever wanted to stay near a castle? ThenĀ this festival is for you! And as I said, this one is only for people between 18-35 years old. Even if you still feel young, I’m afraid you won’t be able to join.
Wald healing, germany
This one takes place in Germany, and let’s mention first, Wald is german for forest. So translated this festival means forest healing. What better to heal than in the midst of nature?
At the moment the website is only in German but don’t let that stop you to contact the organizers for more information!
And I’ve also tried with my best German to translate a bit myself. So please don’t shoot me if I got it wrong, my language skills are getting a bit rusty.
Of course, there will be daily yoga available! Many styles will be present, from Ashtanga to Kundalini and everything in between and out of the box.
And on top of this, there will be many workshops available as well. There are so many, and some that I didn’t understand, that I won’t be able to mention them all. But to give you an idea. There will be a cocoa ceremony, Kirtan sessions, nature art, and many many more!
As the name says itself, this festival is about healing. Therefore there will also be a healing area where you can book individual sessions, or where there will be group sessions more focused on healing.
Music will be present as well of course, but the lineup isn’t that big, to be honest.Ā
And to end information on this festival, it’s also family-friendly. There are many activities specialized for kids, or in which kids also can participate. Therefore, pack all of your bags and let’s go!
Conclusion
That’s it for the upcoming summer. There are many more festivals to attend, but these are my favorite picks! If you have any other festival that you’d like to mention, please leave them in the comment section below!Ā
And that leaves me to say that I hope to see you on one of these wonderful gatherings to have some soulfood together!
Nama-stay wonderful!
Wow, what a beautiful article about alternative spiritual festivals! I had no idea about all those possibilities and I live in Europe. Actually, Italy. You wouldn’t have any advise for a festival here?
I love the way you describe the Agni Spirit Festival, we have the same problem with actual fires around where I live lol. You wouldn’t know about a festival in Italy that was about lighting your inner fire and finding your soul animal?
Thank you so much for this great post,
Janie
Hi Janie,
At the moment I’m not really aware of such a festival in Italy. I only know that Miasto has a meditation festival as well. They are located in Italy, and it’s a great meditation center! Check it out of you’d like :).
Kind regards,
Virendra
You are so right about the great experiences you can have on a spiritual festival. It is great learning more about the European festivals, like in Spain and Portugal. I will be attending some of those for sure next year, since I’ll be living in north of Spain. Thank you for sharing your links with me and your advice on these festivals. Especially Awaken Dance sounds great, music to my ears. š
Thank you for your comment Nanda, The Awake Dance is really a great festival! I won’t be attending it next year as I’ll be going to the Osho festival ;). But you’ll be close, so if you want to stop by and say hello, feel free!
Kind regards,
Virendra