Elevate Akron -- Akron, OH
Photo Credit: Elevate Akron Facebook Page |
On Thursday evening Dave and I attended the 4th annual Elevate Akron event. Elevate Akron is an outdoor yoga festival held in Lock 3 park, the vinyasa class is free to all who attend. On Sunday, co-founder Tracy Rhinehart told the West Side Leader that this year the event was expected to have 2,000 attendees -- and there is space for even more growth in the future with room to hold up to 3,000 yogis.
I'm sharing the photos above and directly below from the Elevate Akron Facebook page, because I think it's so important to capture the magnitude of this event. A camera can only capture a portion of the yogis, in the video from Elevate Akron I shared earlier this week, you can see everyone. In the photo below you can see where we were for the class. Dave gets off work at 4:00 and I work at the University, so it was easy for us to be downtown shortly after 4:45 to get a good spot.
This photo is from when I first arrived at Lock 3.
This photo is from when I first arrived at Lock 3.
Surprisingly, most of the food options were not up and running when we arrived which was disappointing since we arrived right after work and wanted to eat something before the yoga class due to how hot it was outside. Ms. Julie's Kitchen had exactly what we needed, these Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce were delicious and refreshing in the heat. Ms. Julie is based out of downtown Akron and serves a variety of vegan eats at her location and at events like Elevate.
Due to the heat (it was 86° on Wednesday) we were happy to see the Popsmith cart at the event. This is the Blueberry Lavender Lemon and the Coffee (made with Interrobang from Akron Coffee Roasters).
Waiting for the class to start...
This year money from Elevate Akron was raised to support Summit County Children Services. Ohio is currently leading the nation in opioid overdoses and Summit County's heroin epidemic is dramatically increasing in the number of children entering foster care. Ann Ream, the Summit County Protective Services Director, spoke about what those in the community can do to help raise awareness for foster child adoption.
The key note speaker was Peaceful Fruits Founder Evan Delahanty. Peaceful Fruits is a fruit snack company based out of Akron, Ohio that focuses on creating simple and sustainable fruit snacks while centering on a social enterprise business model -- ranging from the founder's partnership with families in South America to creating jobs for people with disabilities in Northeast Ohio.
The key note speaker was Peaceful Fruits Founder Evan Delahanty. Peaceful Fruits is a fruit snack company based out of Akron, Ohio that focuses on creating simple and sustainable fruit snacks while centering on a social enterprise business model -- ranging from the founder's partnership with families in South America to creating jobs for people with disabilities in Northeast Ohio.
The vinyasa class led by Tracy Rhinehart was incredible -- we had been joking all day that we were getting a free hot yoga class due to the heat. I would consider us to both be intermediate yogis, and we were challenged by the class at times which was excellent.
We appreciated that there were no lines while registering, the layout of vendors was easy to navigate, and it was clear who was available to assist you (all of the organizers were wearing the event tank-top in green). I love supporting free events that support a good cause -- this is certainly an event that we would attend again. We will ask some friends to join us next year! This event is free to the public, although you do need to register in order to sign the waiver, shirts were available for a small fee, and all food needed to be purchased as well. Dave forgot his yoga mat and was able to borrow one by providing his license, all he needed to do was return his mat at the end of the event.
Even though this is a free event, it clearly takes a lot of work to organize year to year and everything came together nicely from the view of these two yogis.
Ohio Wanderlust Rating for Elevate Akron:
Thanks for your coverage! We would LOVE to have you at this year's elevate as we are expecting over 3,000 :D
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