Emma Swales
The annual Yogafest is returning for the 13th year this Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Amphitheater in downtown Carrollton and will include 8 mini yoga sessions, a raffle and opportunities for participants to win prizes.
Carrollton Yoga Healing Arts Festival, or better known as Yogafest, was created by local yoga teachers in 2011. The two founders, Angie Pace and Lisa Jacobson, taught yoga at Carrollton Community Yoga when they got the idea to create a city-wide yoga event.
“We noticed that there was so much local yoga going on even though it is a sort of small town,” said Pace. “We wanted to share yoga with the community as a way to bring all of the local teachers and students together and celebrate. Lisa and I talked to prominent yoga figures in town to create classes for Yogafest. They thought it was a great idea so we got together on a board and had established a team that would help us build Yogafest.”
Alongside Pace and Jacobson, Yogafest includes a range of experienced teachers from the Carrollton area. There will be sessions provided by Kimberly Prince Korobov, a local yoga expert who taught for over 18 years, Jessica Munn, a teacher from Red Rock Yoga Studio, Inge Mula Brookhuis, the founder of The Zenter, Sarah Littlejohn, from TerraMar Wellness Center, and Karen Sifton, a local yoga legend.
The 8 mini yoga sessions will begin at 9 a.m. with an opening class led by Pace and will conclude with Littlejohn’s more advanced class at 11:55 p.m. The event will continue after the classes until 1 p.m., giving participants the chance to enter the Yogafest raffle, visit sponsors and chat with the yoga teachers.
“Yogafest is always free for anyone who wants to attend,” said Pace. “Alongside the yoga sessions, there will be a raffle if people want to participate in that. We will also have various prize baskets provided by our local sponsors and business.
“We will call out the raffle winners at the very end of Yogafest,” Pace continued. “We also have shirts that were pre-ordered for students. With all of the profit that we make from the shirts, raffle and sponsors, we donate to a local charity. We will be choosing the same charity we chose last year, which is Feeding Families West Georgia. We love giving back to the community by doing what we love.”
Pace encourages students of all skill levels and age to attend Yogafest. The classes will range from gentle to moderate, and will be provided with the guidance of an experienced teacher.
For more information about The Yoga and Healing Arts Festival, follow @carrolltonyogafest on Instagram. For access to the full yoga class schedule, click here: Yogafest.