Tantra festivals have become quite popular the last few years. They are quite different to retreats. During a festival, many different workshops and activities are offered throughout the day by a wide host of teachers. Attendees make their own schedule, choosing what to do according to their intuition, unlike a retreat where the schedule of the participants is generally decided by the organizers.
Retreats are generally led by a limited number of teachers, thus the experience allows one to go deep into the process they are offering. A festival offers a multitude of workshops by many different teachers, so you just get a taste of what the teachers' work is about. A teacher might only give one or two workshops during the entire week.
Festivals, just like retreats, can be very intense. It is not just smiles every day all day. All kinds of emotions come up for everyone. Some days can be quite difficult, but this is where the growth happens.
Festivals are perfect for getting a taste of many different approaches and healing modalities, for discovering the wide range of Tantra. Then you can choose to attend a retreat by your favorite teacher and go deeper into their process.
This summer, I attended two different Tantra Festivals. Both were a week long. The 2nd annual Portugal Tantra Festival took place at Awakeland Retreat Center (https://www.awakeland.pt/ ).in southern Portugal. The location is magnificent in the Algarve foothills. Lodging is in cozy rooms, bell tents or your own camper van or tent. There were over 200 participants. It may seem like a lot, but it was just enough to keep it cosy and familiar I found.
The festival was well organized. The food was delicious and the location gorgeous. There was a wide array of workshops from Biodanza, to massage, ceremonies, shamanic journeys, ecstatic dance, temple nights and much more.
Nudity was common in the swimming areas, and workshops. In the common chilling and eating areas, people were generally clothed, except for some topless women. The vibe was open, loving and accepting. Lots of affection, authentic sharing, enlightening conversations, beautiful connections as is the norm in my experience of the tantra community.
I also attended the Sadhaka Tantra Festival this summer held at Sadhaka (www.sadhaka.nl), a retreat center in the middle of France. The setting is precious, rolling green hills, a river, swimming hole, forest and farmland around.
There were 50 participants in this festival, so it was a more intimate, cosy vibe. We had time to build deeper connections with others. I enjoyed that aspect of it immensely. Another notable difference was this festival attracted an older crowd with the average age between 35 and 50. It was also not wild as the Portugal festival, maybe for that reason.
The lodging was in comfortable rooms, dorms, caravans and tents. As usual, the food was excellent.
At Sadhaka, I was available for photography sessions. Participants could book me to do a private session of nude photos in nature (www.tantricphotography.com). We would discuss prior to the shoot what concerns they might have, fears or insecurities, what aspect of their personality they wanted to explore, and what intention they had for the experience. The sessions themselves lasted 2 hours and were tailored to the needs of the models.
This is my third summer offering photo sessions at Sadhaka. It has been an amazing journey and I am extremely grateful to the owners, Wim and Chandra, for inviting me.
There are many more Tantra festivals throughout the world. The same organizers of the Portugal Tantra Festival organize one in Holland and India. Another I would like to attend next year is the Swedish Tantra Festival in Ängsbacka', the largest in the world.
Here Lin Ananda Holmquist, the creator of the Swedish Tantra Festival, shares her path, her vision for the festival in a touching, eloquent way :