What better way to end the summer than with an outdoor yoga festival on the river in downtown Toledo?
17 Toledo-area yoga and fitness studios have joined together as ONE, in collaboration with ProMedica, to host an outdoor yoga festival, Sunday, September 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Promenade Park. The all-day event, featuring yoga and meditation, fitness workshops, cooking demonstrations, wellness seminars, vendors, and other activities to promote a healthy lifestyle.
A citywide union
The festival is the “brainchild” of Margaret Penn, yoga instructor and owner of Yogaja Yoga and Yogaja Shop, located in Cricket West. Penn explains, “The meaning of yoga is ‘union,’ and bringing our community together in union is really the spirit of what we’re trying to achieve with this festival–to all come together as ONE to practice together.”
Penn reiterates the goal, “to have something that everyone will enjoy and recognize as yoga. For people who have been thinking of trying yoga, this is the perfect time for them to experience it in a relaxing and inviting atmosphere.”
The day of the festival, four large-scale yoga classes will be presented from the main stage. DJ Taz Rashid, known for spinning Wanderlust festivals and popular yoga playlists, will provide beats, mixing an array of music–tribal, pop, house, funk, new age, classic–for the first three classes. The last class of the festival will have a Toledo Symphony Quartet provide live music, a relaxing yoga class with seated and reclining poses.
With smaller workshops throughout the day inside the ProMedica Headquarters, workshops range from chair yoga to acupressure yoga, with most included in the admission price.
The wellbeing of people
Penn explains the excitement over the collaboration and bringing the festival downtown: “We knew after we had done a small wellness event last year at Wildwood Metropark that there was an overwhelming community response, and we wanted to take the festival downtown to provide a wider community feel. Promenade Park made the most sense, and ProMedica was the obvious partner as their business is the wellbeing of people.”
Money raised from the festival will benefit the ONE Yoga Outreach Program. All ages are welcome, and children 12 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Participants are asked to bring a yoga mat. Guests can pre-purchase advance tickets for $20, or $30 at the door.
The night before the festival, on Saturday, September 8 from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., DJ Taz Rashid will host a Rooftop Kick-Off Party, a “sound-off” yoga class, on the rooftop level of the ProMedica garage. Participants will use their own headphones to listen to music and the teacher’s instructions.
For more information about ONE Yoga Festival or to purchase tickets, visit oneyogafestival.com.
