Description

PLEASE NOTE: SESSION BOOKINGS

Session booking will be activated two weeks ahead of the event. You will be notified by email when session booking is available. 

FESTIVAL BOOKINGS

Whether you have never been to our Sangha Festival before or are a regular attender, we look forward to seeing you this year. 

For further details of the sessions and teachers, check out the festival website at:

                                    https://sites.google.com/view/northyogafestival-sangha-12jul

This website will be updated regularly with any changes to the programme. 

HEADLINE TEACHER

Sue Harding-Smith has recruited a wonderful headline teacher for us, Judy Hirsh Sampath, who specialises in yoga therapy. She wrote an article for our Summer 2026 magazine on the subject. This will be on the website soon and you can read the article there or in your delivered magazine if you still receive a hard copy.   

During a disturbing time in her life, Judy searched for ways to make sense of what was happening. Through yoga therapy and experimenting with many healing arts, Judy came to a realisation that her body loved her unconditionally and all she had to do was love it back. it shifted her understanding of yoga, her relationships with others as well as her Self. The research and embodied practices she discovered was the starting point for sharing her work with other ‘seekers’.
Judy’s passion is education -  to empower health seekers in becoming experts in themselves and celebrate wholeness by breaking free from the self-harm of should and the tyranny of trying too hard. She blends movement and breath, embodied mindfulness, and many other practices with theory and philosophical discussion. She has worked in schools, mental health and fertility settings with people of all ages, sizes and abilities. 

FESTIVAL FORMAT

Be assured, we will be following the format that proved to be so well received in recent years, including at least one mindfulness activity.  

Sue has recruited a number of local teachers to support Judy at the festival, either in one of the more active sessions in the morning, the relaxing sessions after lunch, or the winding up sessions at the end of the day. If you would like to volunteer to teach, contact Sue directly on north.tynerep@bwyregions.org.uk

All tickets cover a full day of yoga - refreshments and lunch are provided. We are planning to have a marketplace and mindfulness activities also. We will also have a second hand book sale to raise funds.

TICKETS:

There will be 30 early bird tickets at a cost of £55 for BWY members only.  

Once these have been booked, the price for the day for BWY members will be £65. 

The price for non-members (free accounts) will be £75. There will be no early bird tickets for non-members. 

CATERING

The event will, as usual, be catered with refreshments and lunch provided for all as part of the ticket price. Tea, coffee and herbal teas will be available, with a selection of milks, snacks and cakes. There is also a cafe onsite should you wish to use it.

Because the main room will be in use for yoga sessions, as well as being the main space for refreshments and for lunch, a separate, small refreshment area will also be in use close to the other teaching space on the ground floor where drinks and snacks can be had. This will also provide access to the outside of the building without having to go through the main public areas. 

The food will be vegetarian/vegan  but we would appreciate it if you could let us know which of these is suitable for you, and whether you have any other dietary requirements e.g. gluten free.

If you are allergic to any particular ingredients, you may wish to consider bringing your own lunch in order to avoid any possibility of cross contamination. If this is the case, we would appreciate you letting us know.  

VENUE 

Our regular one day Sangha festival will be held this year at Ushaw Historic House in Durham, a wonderful venue in its own grounds. There is usually a fee to visit the house and grounds, but as someone who is attending a private event there, you will not need to pay this fee. The house and gardens are accessible to all attendees throughout the day, including the in-house exhibitions. When we'll be there there will be: 150 years of wedding dresses  - highly recommended; and Extinction - with a full size baby triceratops and utahraptor. 

The house will be open to the public on the day of the festival, but three of our rooms are in areas of the building where the public are not permitted. Only the large room, the refectory, is in the main body of the house but public access will not be allowed on the day. Throughout the day we will have use of the 'parlour', next door to the refectory, also off-limits to the public, where lunch will be laid out and additional seating is available. 

ACCOMODATION

There is on-site accommodation available at a reasonable price, which can be booked by contacting Ushaw College directly - the booking manager is Andy at Andy@ushaw.org  You can also ring the reception on 01913738500 if you'd prefer to speak to Andy. There are some rooms available via their website, but these are few; more are available via Andy. The room rate includes breakfast in a delightful room in the main house, a relaxing start to the festival.

The same room is available in the evening for a relaxing drink following your arrival. Although there is no catering available on site in the evening, there is a highly recommended local pub ten minutes walk away. 

PARKING

There is plentiful parking available on-site and, as we will be arriving before the house officially opens, there should be no difficulty parking. The main entry to the building does have steps, but there is a back entrance with level access and some disabled spaces are available just by those doors. Two of the rooms we are using are on the first floor, but there is a lift to get you up there if you can't manage the stairs. 

 

Additional Information

 

 

What to Bring