* Brighton Yoga Festival, in third year, moves to Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
* Festival becomes registered charity
* ‘Whatever people’s age, level of fitness or experience, there will be free yoga for everyone’
Brighton & Hove, UK. Brighton Yoga Festival, now in its third year, moves into the city centre this summer, as a newly registered charity. After two years at St George’s Church in Kemptown, the festival’s entirely free day of yoga for everyone has expanded and will be “taking over” the Dome complex on 23 July 2016.
And in recent days, Brighton Yoga Festival has been awarded charity status (http://brightonyogafestival.org), underlining its long-term aim to bring the mental and physical health benefits of yoga to as many people as possible, whatever their age and level of fitness, and whether they are entirely new to yoga or have decades of experience.
July’s festival day will be packed with a wide range of free yoga and yoga-related activities, from classes, talks, workshops and demonstrations to meditation sessions, therapies and nutrition advice. There are yoga classes especially suited to beginners and to children, pregnancy yoga, yoga for runners, yoga and mindfulness plus other specialisms, as well as classes in many styles for all-comers including highly experienced yogis. Some sessions will be led by international yoga ‘names’, to be announced soon.
In addition, a marketplace of stalls and activities such as face-painting, and a dedicated nutrition area, are complemented by catering from, among others, the Real Junk Food Project (http://www.realjunkfoodbrighton.co.uk/ ).
It is possible to run the day as an entirely free event because of the generosity of its many volunteers and teachers, and of a number of sponsors, headlined by Crystal & Rox (http://crystalandrox.com/ ).
Festival founder and chair of trustees Davy Jones said: “The aim of Brighton Yoga Festival is to bring yoga’s mental and physical health benefits to everyone, free of charge, and to introduce yoga to people who’ve maybe never considered it.
“Whatever people’s age, level of fitness or experience, and whether they’ve ever tried yoga before or not, there will be free yoga for everyone. And that includes people who’ve been practicing yoga for a long time and fancy trying a different discipline or approach.
“The day is absolutely packed with new things to try, discover and explore, in and around yoga, together with stalls, children’s activities and good, wholesome food and drink.”
The festival day runs from 10am – 6pm. Entry and sessions are free of charge, though donations to the charity are welcome. There is no requirement to book in advance (people can just turn up) but there are benefits to pre-registering at www.brightonyogafestival.org/register .