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StrengthIn The City

Festivals

Free at the gate, since the first one in 2021.

A full day of stages, breath tents, talks and independent vendors, held on public ground in the cities we work in. Entry has never cost anything, and the capped workshops are $10.

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Festivals scheduled
2
Entry
Free
Running since
2021

Next up

Two festivals scheduled.

Entry to both is free. Social Club members get first access to the capped workshops two weeks before general release.

An outdoor deck laid out with yoga mats and towels overlooking open water.
Upcoming2026

Lakefront Wellness Festival

  • Saturday, October 17, 2026
  • Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois
  • 1,200 expected

Our flagship day on the lake, now in its fifth year. Four stages, a breathwork tent, twenty vendors from the three cities we work in, and a closing circle on the main lawn at four.

At a glance

Entry
Free, and it always has been
Ticketed workshops
$10, capped at 40 people each
Stages
4 running simultaneously
Vendors
20 independent businesses

Programme

  • Two movement stages programmed on the hour from 10:00 AM
  • A quiet breathwork and sound tent running in forty-minute blocks
  • A talks stage covering sleep, burnout and community health
  • Twenty vendor stalls, all independent businesses from Chicago, Charlotte and Denver
  • A family movement area, staffed all day and open to walk into
  • A closing circle at 4:00 PM with everyone on the main lawn

Speakers

  • Imani Brooks

    Founder, Strength In The City

    Opening welcome and the case for free wellness, 10:00 AM, Main Stage

  • Dr. Ruth Kellerman

    Lakeview Community Health

    What loneliness does to a body, 12:30 PM, Talks Stage

  • Marcus Adeyemi

    Breathwork facilitator

    A ninety-minute breath session, 1:00 PM, Breath Tent

  • Maya Okonkwo

    Lead instructor, Chicago

    Closing circle, 4:00 PM, Main Lawn

A snow-capped mountain range at sunrise beneath a pink and orange sky.
Upcoming2026

Front Range Wellness Festival

  • Saturday, November 14, 2026
  • Sculpture Park, Golden Triangle, Denver, Colorado
  • 700 expected

The first full-scale festival Denver has hosted, built directly out of a Saturday morning class that outgrew its lawn in a single season.

At a glance

Entry
Free, workshops $10
Morning hike
11 km, moderate, 40 places
Stages
2 running from 10:00 AM
Vendors
14 front range businesses

Programme

  • A guided eleven-kilometre hike leaving the Golden Triangle at 8:00 AM, capped at 40 walkers
  • Two stages running from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
  • An altitude clinic for anyone in their first year in Denver
  • A warming tent with hot drinks, open the whole day
  • Fourteen vendor stalls from Denver and the wider front range
  • A closing circle at 3:00 PM on the west lawn, facing the mountains

Speakers

  • Priya Raman

    Head of the Strength Collective

    Opening and altitude clinic, 10:00 AM, North Stage

  • Hannah Voss

    Certified instructor, City Park

    The lawn that split in two, 11:30 AM, North Stage

  • Sam Okoro

    Front Range Trails Coalition

    Guided morning hike, 8:00 AM, meet at Sculpture Park

  • Curtis Bellamy

    Volunteer altitude host

    Breathing at 5,280 feet, 1:00 PM, South Stage

How we got here

Eleven people on a lawn to three cities.

Seven years, from the first Saturday circle at Montrose Point to three festivals in a single season.

  1. 2019

    Eleven people at Montrose Point

    The first Saturday morning circle on the Chicago lakefront. No stage, no schedule, no name yet.

  2. 2021

    The first Lakefront festival

    One stage, 180 attendees and a borrowed sound system on Northerly Island.

  3. 2022

    Charlotte opens

    Nine months of letters from people in Charlotte turned into a Saturday class in Freedom Park.

  4. 2023

    The Strength Collective begins

    The first certification cohort, 22 instructors, all of them drawn from existing members.

  5. 2024

    Denver launches

    Nine people at the first City Park session in March. Seventy by August.

  6. 2025

    Two festivals in one season

    Lakefront reached 1,050 attendees in October and Charlotte held its first festival in November.

  7. 2026

    Three cities, three festivals

    Chicago in October, a Charlotte wellness day in November, and the first Denver festival a week later.

Previously

The two most recent festivals.

What was on, who spoke, and how many people came.

Three friends in light sweatshirts laughing together side by side.
Past2025

Queen City Wellness Festival

  • Saturday, November 8, 2025
  • Camp North End, Charlotte, North Carolina
  • 640 attended

The first Charlotte festival, held in the covered yards at Camp North End through a full day of rain, and attended by two hundred more people than we had planned for.

At a glance

Attendance
640 people, against a plan for 400
First-timers
214 registered at the welcome desk
Weather
Rain from 8:00 AM until close
Kitchens
12 independent Charlotte kitchens

Programme

  • Three stages under cover across the Boileryard and the Ford Building
  • A family movement area that ran continuously for five hours
  • Twelve independent Charlotte kitchens serving from the yard
  • A newcomer welcome desk that registered 214 first-time attendees
  • A closing communal stretch at 2:30 PM

Speakers

  • Rosa Delgado

    Lead instructor, Charlotte

    Opening flow, 9:30 AM, Boileryard Stage

  • Amara Nwosu

    Newcomer welcome lead

    Moving to a city where you know nobody, 11:00 AM, Talks Stage

  • Warren Castellano

    Member and walking group co-founder

    Starting at fifty-eight, 12:00 PM, Talks Stage

  • Gloria Sandoval

    Plaza Midwood Neighbourhood Association

    What a neighbourhood actually asks for, 1:00 PM, Talks Stage

A city river at dusk lined with pastel buildings and crossed by a bridge.
Past2025

Lakefront Wellness Festival

  • Saturday, October 11, 2025
  • Northerly Island, Chicago, Illinois
  • 1,050 attended

The fourth Lakefront festival, and the first to run four stages at once. It is also the day the Denver programme was announced, to a lawn of a thousand people.

At a glance

Attendance
1,050 people across the day
Stages
4, up from 3 the previous year
Breath tent
8 blocks, every one at capacity
Announced
The Denver programme, at 3:45 PM

Programme

  • Four stages, the first time the festival has run that many
  • A breathwork tent that reached capacity in every one of its eight blocks
  • Eighteen vendor stalls along the central path
  • A free clinic staffed by Lakeview Community Health for the full day
  • The Denver launch announcement at 3:45 PM, ahead of the closing circle

Speakers

  • Imani Brooks

    Founder, Strength In The City

    Opening welcome and the Denver announcement, Main Stage

  • Maya Okonkwo

    Lead instructor, Chicago

    Sunrise flow and closing circle, Main Lawn

  • Yolanda Ferrer

    Member and childcare rota organiser

    Making a Thursday night possible for parents, Talks Stage

  • Devon Whitaker

    Member and Bronzeville walk host

    What forty people on a Sunday morning looks like, Talks Stage

Events

There is something on this week, in all three cities.

Festivals are the big days. The rest of the year runs on Saturday morning circles, Thursday breathwork and a walk on the first Sunday of the month.

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