Poco Culture Days include first annual Bliss Yoga Festival

Tola Yoga and Fitness hosted a yoga festival at Lion’s Park on September 27 to promote wellness for the mind, body, and spirit. The Bliss Yoga Festival is an annual event hosted by Angela Girard, the owner of Tola Yoga and Fitness studio in Port Coquitlam.
This year, The Bliss Yoga Festival joined with the Port Coquitlam Rivers and Trails Festival at Lion’s and Peace Park. The two events are part of Port Coquitlam Culture days. Culture days are a Canada wide volunteer event to raise accessibility, participation and awareness of Canadians in the arts and cultural part of their communities. Culture days started in 2010, and this year they have included the Bliss Yoga Festival into their itinerary of activities to participate in.
The yoga festival included free admission and booths such as: Jewelry sales, hypnosis booth, massage tent, meditation room, and a water purifier product stand. Live music was performed by singer Chersea for musical entertainment, and outdoors group yoga classes were held for the general public at various times throughout the day.
Girard spoke on what she hopes to achieve with the festival. “Just trying to spread some love and happiness, yeah, really just trying to get people to take the time to take better care of themselves, and live healthier, happier lives.” Girard also included why she decided to create the festival, “It’s just something I thought would be a really great way to, give back to the community, and thank the community for supporting our business in this community.”
There were many activities to do at the gathering. A meditation room called “Lucia No.3 Light Experience” was set up in the park. The room works by blinking lights at the person inside; the lights are supposed to calm the subject and help with a meditative state. A massage tent was also available for festival goers, as well as a new water filtration product that claims to refine water in order to remove more pesticides than regular washing on your produce.
The Bliss Yoga Festival will be part of the Port Coquitlam Culture Days again next year.