A St. Albert yoga and lifestyle festival returns for a second year after receiving a five-figure grant.
The City of St. Albert presented the Shine Lifestyle and Yoga Festival with a $20,000 grant from the Community Event Stimulus Fund.
The one-time grant is seed money allocated to groups creating large events designed as a hub of community activity that draws tourism traffic. Two previous recipients were Seven Music Fest and Eek! Comic and Pop Festival.
“We’ve (Shine) refocused on lifestyle, more health and wellness as well as environmental, physical and spiritual healing,” said festival founder Caroline Stewart. “We’ve moved to a much more all-around holistic approach. The grant was a huge support in expanding our offerings.”
This year’s Shine Lifestyle and Yoga Festival runs Nov. 15 and 16 at the Enjoy Centre.
Organizers continue to schedule yoga, however about 80 workshops, seminars, talks and classes are also booked.
“People told us that they love the workshops, but felt intimidated by last year’s heavy yoga focus. We expanded with more workshops so there was something for everyone.”
“Yoga is very popular but many people are trying to find meaning or balance in their life. So we’re moving into more areas of health and wellness.”
The classes, workshops and talks centre on themes of exercise, self-development, creativity, and health and wellness.
Ongoing activities will take place in four different rooms at once throughout the day.
“That way people can build a schedule of interests.”
On Saturday night, festival co-founder Tyler Dianocky will lead Art After Dark, a session designed to encourage guests to create their own painting.
“Tyler is also going to talk about blocks to creativity and how to overcome them.”
And on Sunday night, the festival reprises its 108 Sun Salutations, an event that last year attracted 200 people. This year Stewart is expecting numbers to double.
She is also looking for volunteer ambassadors who will “spread the word” by sharing information on social media, delivering posters and handling registration during the festival.
Early bird weekend passes are now on sale for $80 until the end of August. Regular passes are $100. Art After Dark tickets are discounted to $35.
To volunteer or purchase passes, visit shinefestival.com.
