UPDATED FOR 2023! Put yourself back together and recalibrate with Soul Circus – the UK’s best well-being festival.
Last summer, I was luckily enough to be invited to Soul Circus festival. Set deep in the Gloucester countryside, the festival is know as one of the best wellness, yoga festivals in the UK with a head mix of classes, workshops & talks.
The dates for 2023 are 17-20 August.
What is Soul Circus?
From the moment my friend and arrived at the camp set in a wide open grassy green space, we felt a warm welcome. We arrived on the Friday morning (missing the comedy on the Thursday night) with a boot full of yoga leggings and sequins. The festival is geared towards burn out urban hippies or former hedonists (like myself) who want to reconnect, bliss out and find themselves.
Soul Circus FOunders: Roman & Ella
Roman and Ella are the free spirited duo who started this pioneering Soul Circus festival. Their aim was to bring together the most sought after yoga instructors and wellness practitioners, but keep it fun with an incredible musical line up for a fun-packed weekend.
You can buy weekend tickets, glamping tickets or day tickets if you fancy giving the classes a try.
Soul Circus Yoga line up
The line up is amazing – with some of the best Yoga teachers in the UK (and beyond) hosting back to back yoga classes during the day. There is a real mix of levels too from gentle restorative classes, Yin classes or power yoga to wake you up in the morning. There were lots of tents to practice under. And they had an aerial yoga area (for a small extra fee) if you wanted to pick up a new skill.
With some of the best Yoga teachers in the UK (and beyond) hosting back-to-back yoga classes during the day, this is a festival where you can deep dive into your health & body. There is a real mix of levels too from gentle restorative classes, Yin classes or power yoga to wake you up in the morning. There were lots of tents to practice under. And they had an aerial yoga area (for a small extra fee) if you wanted to pick up a new skill.
As well as yoga, there were dance classes, juggling workshops, lots of food tents and ethical brands if you fancied a spot of shopping. I went to a few talks where I had the most lovely conservations with strangers. The festival created a space in my busy life for me to take some personal reflection.
Spa experience
There is also a wellness spa with wood fired hot tubs, massages and holistic treatments – all set on the edge of a lake. And on the lake you could try your hand at paddle yoga.
In the evenings there is a host of live music and headliners this year included Mike Skinner from The Streets and The Cuban Brothers as well as DJ yoga sets.
With so much on, it’s hard to know where to start. My friend and I picked out a few classes that we wanted to try as well as a few new ones that we had never heard of (like Intuitive Thinking & Physic Powers). Having such a wide range of classes on spread out over a few days meant I could explore some new things – as well as practice with some seriously good teachers.
sober festival times
I did the yoga sober – which was absolutely cool. They had lots of non alcoholic brands serving soothing cocktails and CBD drinks. Or you can test out the bar which had a huge range of real alcoholic drinks. The nights roll until 12pm which is fine as after a day of yoga and talks, I slept like a baby at night.
Great healthy food
One of the ways I measure how good a festival can be is by the quality of food. The Soul Circus team have pulled together lots of local sourced food trucks from pizza to BBQ grill to Moroccan stews. And in the mornings, there are sweet treats and hot coffee stalls. There were loads of vegan and veggie options too. And meals averaged around £12-14 for a decent portion.
Spend your days doing yoga, indulging in our spa and sipping on juice. Spend your evenings sipping cocktails, shaking your booty to our DJ sets and eating locally sourced food.