The annual Ogden Yoga Fest will take over the Wildcat Center with classes, vendors, food, music and more on Oct. 10-11.
Every year the festival grows, according to the event director and yoga instructor Michelle Taylor.
This year the festival is complete with a total of 26 classes and 24 teachers. Some of the classes offered include beginner’s yoga, arm balance workshop, meditations, chakra clinics and more.
“There’s yoga that is suited for anybody who wants to come and experience it,” Taylor said. “It’s just a really great way to experience yoga for the first time, or if you’ve already done yoga it’s a great way to have a fun time with your practice.”
A variety of vendors offering everything from henna tattoos to handmade yoga mat bags will also be at the event.
The yoga fest will run Friday from 4-8:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Day-of registration is $10 for Friday, $15 for Saturday or $30 for both days. Attendees also have the option to get both days for $25 if they prepay online at www.weber.edu/fitness/yogafest.html.
“The money from the festival is going straight into the hands of people who really need it,” Taylor said.
All funds will be donated to Your Community Connection, a family crisis center in Ogden.
The YCC provides services like domestic violence victim care, rape recovery and prevention, childcare, transitional housing and other community assistance.
“They do so much,” Taylor said. “So I thought this was a really great opportunity to help this amazing part of our community.”
Last year’s festival resulted in a donation of over $3000 to the YCC and Taylor said she looks forward to another generous contribution this year.
“This is our opportunity to give back,” said Laura Thompson, owner of TimeLess yoga in South Ogden and instructor at the event.
Thompson will be teaching a yoga detox class focusing on twists and other cleansing poses.
The Ogden Yoga Fest’s welcoming environment makes yoga accessible for everybody, Thompson explained.
“This is a place to come, to learn and to ask questions,” Thompson said. “There’s no expectation that you are a yoga expert or that you even have any prior knowledge.”
All of the classes are 90 minutes long, which Thompson says allows for enough time to get into a particular teaching style or type of yoga.
Claudette Halverson, a yoga instructor at WSU, says the weekend will foster a very welcoming atmosphere, which she hopes will help bring a renewed interest to yoga.
“There’s going to be a large enough variety of classes that there is yoga for every different level,” Halverson said. “Hopefully people branch out and try other styles and other teachers and grow to love it even more because their practice will grow.”
Every instructor at the Ogden Yoga Fest is volunteering their time and knowledge to help put on this event.
All ages, community members, students and faculty members are invited to attend.
“The practice of yoga is just life changing,” Taylor said. “This is a really cool way to experience all of the different aspects of yoga that are available and to really have fun doing it.”
