Fitness Festival Round Up : Soul Circus.
Fellow yogis, foodies and fitness lovers – listen up!
I’m here to give you the low-down on one of the hottest fitness festivals – Soul Circus.
This summer, I was lucky enough to attend Soul Circus with one of my best friends Grace, and I wanted to share my experiences with you so when it comes to thinking about festival season next year, you’ll know exactly what to book!!
What? Soul Circus Yoga and Wellness Festival.
When? 21-23 August 2020.
Where? Elmore, The Cotswolds.
Tickets? £99 for a super early bird ticket; £125 for an early bird ticket and £175 for the first set of release tickets.
The Low Down.
Soul Circus is an energising and uplifting weekend set in the beautiful hills of the Cotswolds. Founded by husband and wife Roman and Ella Wroath, the festival was created to offer a celebration of yoga and wellness, together with great music, delectable food and relaxing spa experiences. Delivered with sustainability at its core.
It’s the perfect escape from the stresses and strains of everyday life because it gives you the opportunity to work on your own yoga practice, forget your inhibitions, switch off and slow down. It’s a weekend of acceptable, love and unity for everyBODY.
If you don’t know your chakras from your downward dogs, DO NOT WORRY.
It’s not about that. Think sunrise yoga, hot yoga, aerial and 90’s aerobics, it is the place to experiment, feel free and have fun.
This year, the timetable was packed with challenging yoga classes, inspirational teachers, great live music and of course, delicious food. More on that next!
Fuel Your Mind Body & Soul.
All the food served at Soul Circus was fresh, locally sourced, healthy and delicious unlike a lot of food at traditional festivals.
This year, most of the food vendors were vegan which meant it could be enjoyed by everyone. Good for the planet and good for you!
Think vegan junk food, falafel wraps, vegan curries and lastly, plant-based soft serve ice cream. Food is a central part of the festival and the Soul Cafe is to thank for that. Serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner – we were spoilt for choice.
The food can be quite pricey, so we stocked up on snack bars during the day esepically if you’re a serial snacker like me!
Oh and don’t worry, there are multiple coffee vans. My personal fave was Thirsty Elephant. The best oat milk Americano I think I’ve ever had!
Detoxing or retoxing, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Juice bars, or gin bars – you’ll find something to cater for your needs!
The Music.
No festival is complete without music. Designed to work with the overall festival mood, Soul Circus curated a line-up of buskers, bands and DJs who were able to form the soundtrack to the weekend.
It was a shame the heavens decided to open, but the atmosphere was electric nonetheless.
Let me tell you, yogi’s know how to party! Fire dancers and music from the likes of Goldie and Norman Jay MBE – the party didn’t end until the early hours of the morning.
We called it a night at around 11pm (don’t judge) but the rain got the better of us. No-one likes a soggy sleeping bag!
Our Schedule.
The three-day festival puts on over 200 classes so of course, we made sure to try as many as possible.
Arriving at around 9am on Friday morning, we booked ourselves straight into a dreamy Hot Tipi class with Evelyn Cribbin. The class was designed to open ours heart through a flowly and effortless back-bending sequence. The Amber Hot Tipi was amazing, we enjoyed it so much we decided to stay for a second class with Aram Raffy.
I think Raffys’ Beyond Borders and Body was my favourite class of the weekend. The class was infused with music, breath work, chaturangas and humour. He has such an infectious and unique style of teaching way of it was impossible not to love every minute!
After a quick refuel, we were straight back in with acro. Now let me tell you, it is SO MUCH HARDER THAN IT LOOKS. And I very embarrasingly, fell head first into the guy who was very kindly acting as my bases’ crotch. Not my finest moment.
Super fun but I think I’ll stick to vinyasa for now!
Before heading for dinner, we wandered round the Traders Market – a tent filled with trinkets, jewellery and activewear. Oh, and a glitter station because why not add an extra dash of sparkle to the weekend.
Our Saturday morning started bright and early. Sunrise yoga, breakfast and goal setting with Lululemon. The beautiful Catri Barrett took us through a sweaty and energising Vinyasa Flow working up our appetite for breakfast.
2019 saw the introduction of the Body Positive Tipi. A safe space to celebrate all bodies and connect with your inner sass.
Feeling incredibly relaxed and rejuvenated, we took one last stroll around the lake before packing up our tent and heading back to reality.
Top Tips for Festival Fun in 2020.
Having successfully survived my first festival, I wanted to share a couple tips with you!
1. Wear Your Most Colourful Gymwear.
The weekend gives you the opportunity to be whoever you want to be. So wear those bright pink leggings you didn’t think were suitable for the gym – the brighter, the better!!
2. Bring Your Own Mat .
Mats are available for rent, but require a £50 deposit. Bringing your own means you don’t have to worry about queing and/ or remembering to drop it back at the end! They also provide GREAT insulation under sleeping mats. Win win!
3. Bring Layers & Waterproofs!
When I say it rained, I mean it poured. Be sure to bring a waterproof jacket, wellies and if you’ve got them, waterproof trousers! Oh and jumpers. And lots of them. Evening yoga sessions can get cold!
4. Reuseable water bottle.
You can’t buy plastic water bottles at the festival. Instead, there are water taps everywhere. You’ll never go thirsty!
5. Bring Snacks!
With such a jam-packed schedule of classes, it’s easy to forget to eat (would you believe it..) I made sure I always had a protein bar or piece of fruit on me. Food is available all day round but can add up quite quickly.
Soul Circus is a must for die-hard yogis and is a fantastic way for beginners to try lots of different styles.
TOP SECRET – I’m also hoping to get involved with facilitating some of the workouts next year but more on that VERY SOON!
2020 is set to be bigger, better and even brighter! So what are you waiting for?
Tickets for the 2020 festival are now available with the weekend taking place from 21-23 August.
Click here to find out more and sign up for updates on the line-up.
Be sure to follow Soul Circus on Instagram here!
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