Wanderlust AU/NZ: Jacque & Jonnie
Originating in NYC, Wanderlust is a ‘mindful living festival’. Jacque, a yoga teacher, and her husband Jonnie, a music festival organiser, brought the festival out to Australia in 2014. While many events are very focused on a specific audience and dare we say, ‘hippie vibe’, Wanderlust is very accessible as a global brand and brings the mindfulness concept to a much broader audience. There’s a great music line-up, lots of credible partners, fun workshops, good food and wine — in a nutshell, being a ‘mindful event’ means being an event with purpose.
Unlike a traditional music festival where the focus is on what’s happening on stage, the focus of Wanderlust is on the individual and their personal journey. The spiritual connotation to this is that attendees are encouraged to find their best self. The Wanderlust mission statement is ‘find your true north’. We spoke to Brand Manager for Australia & New Zealand, Jacque Halstead, about her journey in establishing Wanderlust events in the Southern Hemisphere.
Mindfulness and wellbeing are hot trends in Australia right now, what was the public reaction like to Wanderlust?
We launched Wanderlust in March 2014 with one big, well-produced day filled with taster events. Entry was free to the public to introduce the brand in an accessible and inclusive way, encouraging attendees to explore and try new things. The reaction has been amazing and the festival has grown rapidly, with three annual 4-day retreat events and five 1-day events called Wanderlust 108. Wanderlust 108 is a 5k ‘Mindful Triathlon’ with yoga, a 5k fun run, meditation, and other fun activities.
The Wanderlust events are wildly popular with men and women of all ages, what is it about Wanderlust that makes wellness and mindfulness fun and inclusive?
The whole event is focused on fun. From the activities we run to our philosophy of creating community over competition. Our fun run isn’t timed, we track “smilage over milage”. A lot of fitness-focused events are about challenging yourself and comparing yourself to others, which can have a negative impact. Competition can drive people to go to unhealthy extremes and then it’s just not fun anymore. We want people to challenge themselves in a fun and healthy way, which is where mindfulness comes into play. The focus is on the journey of every individual, rather than comparison to others. This is big in yogic philosophy and translates to the Wanderlust events.
I think the reason it speaks to such a broad audience is because there’s no judgement on anyone’s lifestyle choices. We can all coexist together, no matter what we’re into.
How do you go about creating mindfulness and attendee wellbeing when putting together these events?
With the rise in awareness of mindfulness, people are starting to see the bigger picture that health and fitness is more than just about going to the gym. It’s about your overall health and wellbeing, your relationships, how you choose to live and what you consume.
Our audience is aware of where everything comes from, where it’s made, and their own carbon footprint. We see out organic and locally sourced manufacturers. It’s a bigger education piece about the how and why, to be aware of the impact you have on your environment. Again, this is never done in a judgemental way; we want everyone to feel welcome and to go on their own journey; it’s just about having that awareness. If someone wants to relax with a glass of wine instead of meditation, that’s fine. We just ensure it’s locally sourced and sustainably made wine.
How have you gone about putting together partners that match your vision?
It’s a journey. A lot of partners gravitate towards us because of what we offer, so having a strong brand ethos is really important to attract likeminded brands. The festival provides such a great opportunity for partner brands to present what they’re doing, but if they’re not authentic, our audience will know.
My advice to anyone looking to partner with an event is that you should use it as an opportunity to tell a real story and form a relationship with your consumers. Your investment and effort will be void if this is done in a fake or ‘plastic’ way, people will see right through it.
What are the most popular activities at your events?
Yoga is definitely the most popular activity, we attract popular big-name teachers and attendees are really eager to practise and learn from them. Yoga studios are also where our communities tend to congregate. We get a few runners coming to try out yoga, but it’s usually the other way around. We’re introducing cycling classes this year as this is a popular trend.
At our 108 events we also put on a range of quirky activities to get people trying fun things they normally wouldn’t do, like acro-yoga, slacklining, and hula-hooping.
People are pretty addicted to their screens these days. How do you go about encouraging attendees to disconnect while still incorporating social media into the event?
Social media is such a big part of everyone’s lives these days. It’s often where we go to seek inspiration too, so it’s definitely an important part of the festival.
Social sharing is encouraged on site; it’s important to any event that attendees are using social media and sharing their experience. It’s what inspires others to come out to future events. There are certainly times that people shut off their phones, but there’s also roaming photographers getting up close to the action during those times, with albums uploaded to Facebook every evening for people to tag and share.
We also incorporate devices into some really cool workshops. For example, we have one called “sex up your social”, which teaches participants how to change their perception to capture really beautiful things, rather than shutting them out from behind their screen. We also have photography hikes with smartphones and cameras, that again look at capturing great moments without feeling like you’re missing out on them.
Particularly for our 4-day events, which is more like a huge retreat, there’s a big emphasis on making connections in real life. Our screens provide us with connection with online communities, but at the same time can really close us off from the rest of the world. Our festival goers are looking for a balance and to connect with people on a more personal level. Coming to a festival like Wanderlust, where you’re all on the same journey, you start to see people open up and blossom. On day one everyone is treading lightly and a bit reserved, but it’s completely different by day four as friendships develop and guards are dropped.
Learn more about Wanderlust’s local and global program of events at wanderlust.com or check out part I and III of our series on Wellness Trends.
