It started with a garden party and an elephant somewhere in the new part of Sydhavnen, Copenhagen. Stina Madelaire’s friend had been to India where he’d bought an impressive stone statue of the elephant god Ganesha, and the statue was getting a proper welcoming ceremony with incense, mantra chanting and rose petals. Friends were invited to the summer party to take part in the ceremony, and a handful of yoga teachers were invited to teach free classes on the lawn.

Several yards of crushed velvet and a pavilion tent which was blown down by the wind was the furniture, the grass was the floor under the yoga mats and the sky was the ceiling between the apartment blocks. The ceremony was concluded when we cracked open a coconut and tossed it into the sea, the games on the lawn lasted much longer and ended with singing around a bonfire in the dark.

The following spring, Stina Madelaire and Mai Brøndsted put yoga, lawn and music together and it became the dream of a grand festival. The vision was a festival to show yoga in all its lovely diversity and give yogis from all over the country a place to meet. A festival that would showcase yoga far beyond the existing community and show that there is yoga for people of all ages and in all shapes.

Summer yoga lawn party became Copenhagen Yoga Festival and in 2011 it moved from Sydhavn to Søndermarken on Frederiksberg. Yogis flocked to the area in the early morning to roll out their mats in spite of the Meteorological Institute’s warnings of heavy rain. Half the planned program took place in style before we packed up our stuff and headed for cover, sure that this was the start of something big.

In 2012 we built a village of tents on the edge of the sea by Tiøren, Amager Strandpark. The festival was extended to a two day event and the ambitious programme included close to 40 workshops, a series of lectures and a stage with live music. It was full of summery smiles, yogis spilling out of the tents, lots of publicity and words of praise.

The dream had become reality. The garden party has grown into a festial and the elephant happily flaps his ears again this summer. We are excited to welcome you to an exciting programme again this year and to celebrate a bright idea that was conceived in Gansha’s name that summer in Sydhavn.