SNEWS Qs: Wanderlust Festival connects people to nature, products

Everybody loves a good festival — especially one that incorporates our favorite things like yoga, the outdoors and good food.

That’s Wanderlust Festival. Event organizers recently announced they had selected the locations for the 2014 events, which include some great beach and mountain towns where people can gather to share their passions.

“While yoga is at the heart of the festivals, the mindful community goes beyond yoga, and people come to Wanderlust for all different reasons,” said Sean Hoess, co-founder of the event. “Some people want to grab their friends or family and get away to a beautiful outdoor location for a few days, while others want to take a yoga class with a renowned teacher they don’t normally have access to.”

SNEWS recently chatted with Hoess about how retailers and manufacturers in the yoga, outdoor and fitness categories can get involved in the traveling festival, which will take place in exotic locations like Los Andes, Chile and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. One will even happen in our backyard — Aspen, Colo. The events kick off in February.

“Quite simply, we picked the most beautiful places on earth,” Hoess said. “From stunning mountain resorts to sea-side surf paradises, each festival is a place for our guests to see and experience the beauty of their environment, their practice and themselves.”

For more information on the 2014 event locations, visit the event website. To sponsor the event, email sponsors@wanderlustfestival.com.

How has your Wanderlust brand grown?
Over the past seven years, we’ve experimented with our programming, learning what interests our guests and what doesn’t. We host a community of mindful people, and their interests range through yoga, thought-provoking lectures, organic food and wines, music programming, outdoor activities and more. The basic model we launched at Squaw Valley fits equally well in different locations across the world, because the yoga lifestyle has become global in the last few years. Our mission is to bring the yoga community together, and now do it in a wide variety of ways — through a variety of multi-day festivals, through free one-day events in urban areas, through our Wanderlust Yoga studios (Austin, Montreal, Squaw Valley) and, most recently, through our first Wanderlust yoga Teacher Training Program.

Will you be partnering with any yoga or fitness retailers in those areas?
Wanderlust is extremely fortunate to have found partners who understand our goals and align with creating a unique experience within the mindful community. Wanderlust partners with a variety of brands, everyone from fitness, fashion, food, beauty, both big and small, national and local. It’s about finding partners who share our core values.

What is the cost of the event?
Our festival tickets are around $450 for the full four-day experience, though we also sell affordable 3-day and 1-day passes as well. Our one-day Yoga in the City events are free with registration.

What are some of the perks of attending?
We like to think of Wanderlust as a place where you can have a transformational experience — or just have a great time. You’ll be able to get centered with leaders in yoga, listen to scintillating thought leaders, take in the world-renowned natural beauty of our resorts, and dance into the night with top musical performers — all in the same day. Our guests curate their own experience, choosing from a menu of more than 150 activities, including yoga, meditation, lectures, surfing, hiking, food and wine, hooping, dance, running, live music and much more. Beyond the amazing things you can do and see it’s also a great way to make lifetime friendships.