How wellness came to dominate Ireland's festival industry

Adults in Ireland are spending €562m on online fitness and wellbeing annually

Vogue Williams, Joe Wicks and Dr Hazel Wallace aka the Food Medic energise audiences at day one of WellFest 2024. 

Ireland’s festival season is just around the corner, but it will not only be about the music. 

This year’s biggest festivals will not revolve entirely around the usual variety of acts such as Oasis, Snow Patrol, Charlie XCX and Sabrina Carpenter. While music fans will be well catered to at events like Greenfields, Forbidden Fruit and Electric Picnic, another burgeoning entertainment industry devoted to health and wellness is also carving out a significant share of the leisure market. Europe's largest outdoor fitness and wellness festival, WellFest, returns for its tenth year in May, with a line-up likely to see the ‘sold out’ sign erected early.