Unravelling Wellfest

I'm not really much of a festival person if I'm honest. I'm not great with big crowds and have low tolerance for very drunk people. I think the only big music festival I've been to is Electric Picnic around 12 years ago and I didn't even camp.

When I first heard about Wellfest last year, I knew immediately it was the sort of thing I would enjoy but I fell into some weird procrastination void and didn't book tickets. Instead I watched all the build up on social media and then duly kicked myself for missing out. I think part of what was holding me back was I didn't know anyone else going and I was apprehensive about doing something like that solo. I've since come to realise that you could waste most of your life waiting for other people and miss out on all the good stuff inbetween. The minute the 2019 tickets went on sale I booked mine and then forgot all about it for a few months so it was like a present from me to me when they started to build the hype on social media and I remembered this year I was going. 

I bought a new yoga mat, I already had an abundance of gym clothes, I looked at time table online trying to decide what I might do and what I might eat. I'm not exactly known for my spontaneity. This girl likes to plan. I had a brief moment of worry about attending solo and then the excitement of the weekend ahead kicked in.

When Saturday morning rolled round, I was up at stupid o clock getting myself organised. I drove most of the way from Kilkenny to Dublin and then got the luas in the rest of the way. From Heuston I followed the hoards carrying yoga mats and hoped for the best. Not too long later I stood shivering near the top of the queue cursing my excellent time keeping. As soon as I got in I helped myself to a big bowl of porridge and started making plans for the day. There was so much to choose from that I barely knew where to start. I decided early on that boogie bounce was probably not for me ( very high tempo workout on a trampoline) so I went and found myself a yoga class with Lee Tracy and it was lovely. I mean nothing like a good yoga session to make you realise you need to do more yoga but when we finished I felt incredibly chilled out and I'd a big smile on my face. I made my way over the main stage and joined in on core workout that had only just started. Hundreds of us doing an exercises outside in the sun and there was a great atmosphere. I mean don't get me wrong, 30 mins of abs is bloody hard but im so full of endorphins now that I barely remember. 

I stayed around the main stage to see the strength temple, a friend of mine recommended I check him out. I'm glad I did, another lovely yoga flow in the sun, getting covered with grass but being too chilled out to care. It was all going well until the end where he got us in for a group hug. Well I ran away, the only thing worse than having to hug a stranger was having to hug loads at the same time. After that I was starving so went off to join an endless queue for food. It was worth the wait and soon I was munching my way into lovely avocado toast with a whole load of things I never thought I'd eat. I'd barely finished my lunch when I found myself unrolling my yoga mat to join in another strength temple yoga session. This one on the Well good stage so a much smaller crowd but the same lovely vibe id been picking up on all day. 

I figured at that stage I'd probably done as much yoga as I could conceivably get away with and I headed back the main stage for hiit style workout that knocked the breath out of me. I had a moment of regret a few mins in when I felt a bit winded but i was completely buzzed by time we were done. At this point I probably should have been done for the day but I had a complete turn around and decided I actually wanted to give boogie bounce a go. I ended up in a queue that seemed so ridiculously long that I didn't think I had a hope of getting in. I felt I was nearly queuing for the Craic of it but much to my surprise ( or poor math on my part) I ended up on the last free trampoline. Just as I suspected I'm a little too uncoordinated to follow a boogie bounce class properly but I can tell you I was bouncing the whole time and I had a whole load of fun. 

Day one down and I was buzzed. Wishing I had the print out of the day 2 itinerary so I could plan for the next day. I didn't so I headed to my sisters place in dun Laoghaire and changed into normal clothes before going out to eat all the food and having a lovely sunset walk down by the harbour.

Day 2 of wellfest and I was up early and ready. However seeing as I live in the sticks and mostly travel by car, I didn't think to factor in on Sunday the public transport is less frequent. I was too impatient to wait the hour for a dart or the half hour for a bus so I began walking towards town until a bus came along. I got into Wellfest just after 10 feeling flustered but once I got myself into a yoga class I was feeling pretty calm. I decided I needed to another boogie bounce class and demand was so high I had to queue over an hour to do so. It was worth the wait. This time I had my pick of trampolines so I chose one in middle. No one standing outside would see me lepping about out of sync with the class and I'd not stand out in any official photos. I can confirm I wasn't any better in my second session but I enjoyed every bit as much as I did the first time around. 

After that it was time for some sustenance. All the food queues were crazy long so I was smart and got myself a coco brew coffee and nobo button to enjoy while I queued for blazing salads. While queuing I realised The Happy Pear were doing a talk in the Supervalu tent so I listened while I queued and got served in record time so I got to sit down and watch them while I happily munched my bean burger and salad combo.

Happily full I took myself to another yoga class over at the Well yoga tent. This one was probably a little advanced for me. She talked about yoga poses by their proper names so I had to keep looking up to see what I was supposed to actually be doing. I got a lot from it all the same and I was feeling pretty good by the time I rolled up my yoga mat. 

I had a lovely wander around discovering food samples before I settled on my final workout of Wellfest and I joined everyone by the main stage to do cardio box. I had worked up a sweat and nice glow by the end of that and I headed for the exit with a smile on my face. 

I will admit I wasn't sure what to expect from wellfest but it surpassed all my expectations and I already can't wait to go next year.