A Thousand Yoga Mats Took Over Downtown Asheville, and the Regulars Fly In Every Year

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  July 27, 2026

Yoga mats covered nearly every open patch of grass at Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville last weekend, and a good number of the people standing on them had flown in to be there. The Love Shine Play Festival closed out its four-day run on Sunday. Classes and live music ran alongside an outdoor market, all of it packed into the busiest few blocks in Buncombe County.

For anyone living west of the Balsams, it is an easy trip. Waynesville is about 30 minutes out on I-40, Sylva runs closer to 50 on US-23, and Franklin is roughly an hour and 20 minutes by way of US-441. Close enough to catch a morning class and still be home for dinner.

What makes people fly across the country for a yoga festival?

The short answer is the teachers. Co-founder Sara LaStella described a crowd that comes back on the same weekend every year to practice with the same instructors, who themselves travel in from all over to see each other.

"It's just turned into just this magical moment in the middle of Asheville where all of the sudden they're yoga mats everywhere and people are walking around with big smiles on their faces," LaStella said.

That repeat traffic is the part that matters. A festival that pulls first-timers has done a good job of advertising. One that pulls the same people back for years is something closer to a standing appointment, and it says as much about the city as it does about the programming.

Why did a yoga festival end up in Asheville?

Because the infrastructure was already here. The Asheville Yoga Center has operated downtown since the late 1990s and has trained a long line of teachers who now work all over the Southeast. Around it grew a dense little economy of studios, massage therapists, acupuncturists, and retreat centers scattered through the coves outside town.

Layer on the spa side of things, from Shoji up on Town Mountain to the Omni Grove Park Inn, and you have a city that has been quietly selling rest for a century. The Vanderbilts came here for the mountain air. The pitch has not changed much.

The mountains do the rest. A weekend of practice lands differently when you can drive 20 minutes and be standing on the Blue Ridge Parkway, or make a morning of a waterfall in Transylvania County before the afternoon session.

Is downtown Asheville back to full strength for events?

Pack Square sits well above the river bottoms that took the worst of Helene in the fall of 2024, and the downtown event calendar has been running at normal pace for a while now. A park full of visitors from out of state on a July weekend is a reasonable measure of where things stand.

The River Arts District is a different story and remains a longer rebuild. But for anyone who has not been downtown in a couple of years, the sidewalks and the restaurants look like they used to, and so does the festival lineup.

Does the wellness crowd actually move here?

Often enough that agents in this region notice the pattern. Somebody comes for a retreat or a festival weekend, drives out to Fairview or Weaverville on a whim, and starts running numbers on the way home.

It rarely happens fast. The more common version is three or four visits spread across a few years, each one a little longer, until a rental in Black Mountain turns into a serious search. The people who end up buying in Jackson or Macon County usually started by falling for the pace of a weekend, not the price per square foot.

What draws that crowd west of Asheville is space. An hour down US-23 buys quieter land and room for a studio or a workshop over the garage. The same mountain view would cost considerably more in Buncombe County. Franklin, Sylva, and Cullowhee have absorbed a steady share of people who first came through Asheville and decided they wanted the same air with fewer neighbors.

Love Shine Play returns next summer. If a weekend like that has you wondering what living out here full time would actually involve, Jon Tharp is always up for that conversation.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Love Shine Play Festival in Asheville?

Love Shine Play is a multi-day yoga and wellness festival held in Pack Square Park in downtown Asheville. The 2026 edition ran four days and ended July 26. Programming centers on yoga classes taught by instructors who travel in from around the country, with live music and an outdoor market running alongside the schedule. Co-founder Sara LaStella describes it as a reunion as much as a festival, with students returning year after year to practice with the same teachers. Organizers have said they plan to bring it back next summer, and dates are typically announced in the spring.

How far is Asheville from Franklin, Sylva, and Waynesville?

Asheville sits in Buncombe County and is reachable from most of Western North Carolina in under two hours. From Franklin, it is roughly 70 miles by way of US-441 and US-23 to I-40, or about an hour and 20 minutes depending on traffic through the gorge. Sylva runs about 50 minutes on the same route, and Waynesville is closer to 30 minutes on I-40. From Brevard, plan on about 45 minutes over US-64 and NC-280. Downtown parking during festival weekends fills early, so the garages off College Street and Rankin Avenue are the safer bet.

Why is Asheville known for yoga and wellness?

Asheville has built a wellness reputation over several decades, anchored by studios like the Asheville Yoga Center, which has operated downtown since the late 1990s and trains teachers who go on to work across the Southeast. Add in the spa culture at places like Shoji and the Omni Grove Park Inn, a dense network of massage therapists and acupuncturists, and a steady flow of retreat traffic into the surrounding mountains, and the city became a natural host for a festival like this one. The mountain setting does a lot of the work. People come for the practice and stay for the trails.

Has downtown Asheville recovered enough for large outdoor events?

Yes. Pack Square Park and the surrounding downtown blocks sit well above the river districts that took the worst of Hurricane Helene in September 2024, and downtown's event calendar has been running at full strength for a while now. Festivals, markets, and street performances have returned to their usual rhythm. The River Arts District has had a harder and longer road back, and some businesses there are still rebuilding or have relocated, but a visitor coming in for a weekend downtown will find the restaurants, hotels, and public spaces operating normally.