Asheville's Love Shine Play returns downtown with expanded 2026 lineup

Downtown Asheville will again turn into the main mat for Love Shine Play, which returns July 23-26, 2026 with four days of yoga, live music and community spread through streets, studios and neighborhood blocks. Instead of parking everyone in one resort or retreat center, the festival uses the city itself as the venue, with Pack Square Park set as the site for the wellness summer market.

That urban footprint is the point. The festival began in 2016, when Amanda Hale and Sara LaStella bought Asheville Yoga Fest and rebuilt it as Love, Shine, Play LLC, giving the event a downtown identity and a broader cultural feel. The organizers have kept the focus on Asheville’s local yoga community, saying the festival is meant to showcase the city and fold in local instructors and studios alongside visiting teachers.

For 2026, the preview points to an expanded class schedule and a full music lineup. Festival materials also list yoga workshops, meditation classes, adventures and community events, a mix that makes the weekend feel closer to a citywide gathering than a single-venue conference. Official materials describe it as the 9th annual Love Shine Play Festival, a marker that underscores how firmly it has settled into Asheville’s summer calendar.

Attendance is ticketed by pass type, and the experiences page says entry requires a 1-day, 3-day or 4-day pass. That matters for anyone deciding whether to make the trip or commit to the full weekend, because the structure clearly favors moving between classes, music sets and neighborhood stops rather than staying in one room all day.

The draw is not just the roster of teachers or the size of the lineup. It is the way Love Shine Play turns downtown Asheville into part of the practice, with sidewalks, studios and Pack Square Park folded into the same weekend rhythm. A 1-day, 3-day or 4-day pass is the entry point to that version of the city.