Emerge yoga festival gets boost
The momentum keeps building behind the debut of Emerge – Canada’s Yoga Festival™.
The successor to Sabstock received a big boost this week by first learning its $50,000 grant application had been accepted, and second, they were named third overall of Expedia’s list of “17 MUST experience Festivals in 2017.”
Chessa Sabourin, festival founder, said she and the organizing team were over the moon once they got the news from Laurentian Valley Township they were successful in securing the Celebrate Ontario grant for concerts and festivals.
“There’s a really competitive pool of festivals out there, and to beat them out and get the whole $50,000 is really something,” she said. “We’re super excited.”
Learning they were on Expedia’s list came out of left field, and totally surprised them, Sabourin said, especially being ranked number three.
“We’re listed ahead of the Calgary Stampede,” she said, noting it is an honour to even be included on it.
Emerge – Canada’s Yoga Festival™, a new festival in the tradition of Sabstock, makes its debut this Canada Day weekend, June 29 – July 2, 2017.
Chessa, the daughter of Peter Sabourin, who was better known as Sab, worked closely with him for seven years until 2014, then ran Sabstock on her own for the first time after his passing from an 11 year battle with cancer.
After taking 2016 off and after much thought, she decided to take the music festival into a new direction, and so Emerge was born.
Sabourin said Sabstock at its core was about bringing the community together, and it is her intention the Emerge festival will do exactly that, but with the focus being on yoga, something she has practiced herself for years. She said there is a lot of competition for rock and music festivals, but there isn’t an event like this one.
The former Sabstock grounds are being renovated to include eight separate venues from which yoga practitioners can operate. The main stage is being rebuilt to resemble a lotus flower, and they are negotiating with top acts of world music to perform at the event.
The site will also feature on-site camping, glamping and more. She said they anticipate the event will be drawing a strong amount of patrons from Ottawa and the surrounding region.
Sabourin said they are expanding the vendors’ village to include top of the line yoga gear, as well as craft beer places and other quality products, and all foodstuffs will be 100 per cent organic.
She said this Canadian yoga festival will offer a world class lineup of yoga teachers, meditation teachers, speakers, and musicians.
Sabourin said the event has already sold more than 500 tickets, including a quarter of the weekend passes, and so far they have sold tickets across nine provinces, the U.S.A, Germany and beyond.
“It is tough to put words on it,” she said. “It really has been growing and it is amazing to witness this.”
Sabourin said they still intend to do something really special for Canada Day and this country’s 150th birthday, promising something with music and which has never been experienced before.
She added Canada’s Yoga Festival is giving 10 per cent of all ticket profits to two not for profit charities, committed to the body, mind, and planet.
Tickets will be made available for all of the evening events at the festival, for those who don’t want to spend the weekend or the full day.
