Experience Butler County grant helping bring first Yoga Fest to Butler County
An area yoga instructor is organizing a new festival in Zelienople, bringing yogis, saunas and cold plunges to what she said is a county that has “a wealth of wellness.”
Melissa Turner, owner of Studio Z Yoga and Studio Z Cycle, is using a $5,000 grant she obtained from Experience Butler County last year to host the first Butler County Yoga Fest. The event is planned to take place Friday, May 15, and will feature activities relating to yoga and wellness from the afternoon into the evening.
According to Turner, the event will bring in people to lead attendees in activities, including different types of yoga and meditation. She said there are already a lot of yoga studios and other wellness-centered businesses and organizations in the county, leading her to believe there is a want for an event like this in Butler County.
Studio Z received the grant at last year’s Toast to Tourism event, where 14 agencies split $50,000 in grants to “enhance visitor experience in Butler County.”
Turner said the grant is paying for costs relating to the festival, and it will cost $35, plus any online fees, to attend. The event is scheduled to take place from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 15, at Zelienople Park, 402 E. Beaver St., Zelienople.
Amy Pack, president of Experience Butler County, said grants like the one received for this event are awarded for creative, marketing or capital projects.
“They have to enhance the visitor experience and locally tie in accommodations,” Pack said at last year’s Toast to Tourism, “because the longer people stay, the more they get to do and experience with us.”
Studios involved include Studio Z Yoga, Salt Power Yoga, The Collective Wellness Studio and Shakti Yoga & Pilates. Other happenings scheduled for the event include a Tai Chi class, speakers, wellness vendors, sound baths and more.
Turner said she hopes to make the event even bigger next year.
“I definitely have drawn some inspiration from events I've attended. I want it to be a yoga fair,” Turner said. “The goal is to have a yearly event of Butler County … My hope is that next year it would be a full-day thing.”
For more information on the Butler County Yoga Fest, visit Studio Z Yoga’s website at studiozyoga.com.
