Smoky Mountain Yoga Festival returns to Waynesville with wellness weekend

Waynesville’s Folkmoot turned into a three-day yoga and wellness hub as the Smoky Mountain Yoga & Wellness Festival returned for its second annual run. The June 19 to June 21 gathering tied together the Summer Solstice, International Day of Yoga and a mountain-town weekend built for people who wanted more than a single class on a mat.

The schedule stretched well beyond standard studio programming. Organizers packed in 33 instructors and 38 classes, with yoga, qigong, hooping, sound healing and wellness workshops spread across Friday and Saturday. That kind of lineup gave the festival the feel of a full destination event, not just a drop-in series, and it helped position Waynesville as a place where practice, nature and regional travel could meet in one weekend.

The social side was just as prominent. A Makers & Healers Bazaar brought together more than 50 vendors, alongside gourmet food and drink, a free children’s area, a parade, a concert and other community-building activities. The mix widened the audience beyond committed practitioners, giving families, casual visitors and shoppers reasons to stay on site, browse and linger through the day.

The weekend closed with a Sunday Summer Solstice Celebration at Elk & Embers, where one option was an outdoor Hatha yoga class that folded in breathwork, meditation and time for deep connection to the surroundings. Organizers advised guests to bring water and a yoga mat or blanket, a small but telling detail that fit the festival’s practical, welcoming tone.

In its second year, the festival used the solstice as more than a date on the calendar. At Folkmoot and then at Elk & Embers, it turned Waynesville into a place where yoga became a shared mountain ritual, built to draw repeat crowds back for the practice, the vendors and the setting itself.