Huge Wellness Festival to take over Sunderland landmark Hylton Castle

A huge Wellness Festival will take over Hylton Castle with three days of mood-boosting activities.

Four North East organisations are teaming up to host the region’s biggest wellness festival at the site next summer.

Active Families North East, Hylton Castle Trust, Community Opportunities and The Wellness Collective will transform Hylton Castle and its grounds into a three-day wellness extravaganza from Friday, June 4 to Sunday, June 6 2027.

The North East Health and Wellness Festival has been designed so that each day has a different audience in mind, offering a packed programme of activities, workshops and fun, all centred on health and wellness.

The festival will open on Friday 4 June with THRIVE: Workplace Wellbeing, Festival Style, a day created for employers looking for a fresh way to support their teams away from the pressures of work.

Employees, founders and business leaders will be able to choose from inspiring speakers, fireside conversations, movement sessions, sound baths and creative workshops, as well as relaxed spaces to connect. Organisers hope attendees will leave with shared memories and practical ideas to take back into the workplace.

On Saturday 5 June, RESET: The Adults-Only Wellness Festival will give guests the chance to focus entirely on themselves.

Visitors can shape their own experience from a programme of yoga, Pilates, breathwork, sound baths, talks, treatments, food and creative workshops, whether they want to get moving, try something new or simply slow down and recharge.

The festival will close on Sunday 6 June with TOGETHER: Family & Community Wellness day, bringing families from across the region together for a lively day of movement, creativity and fun.

Alongside activities designed especially for children, there will be plenty of opportunities for parents, carers and grandparents to join in, making wellbeing something every generation can enjoy.

Designated festival tents will separate different activities and the festival has already welcomed its first sponsor, North East leading HR Consultancy Oculus HR, which has backed The Wellness Collective and supported its wider community benefits since the organisation’s first event.

All profits from the event will go back into delivering free and subsidised wellness activities for residents across the region.

Colin Burnicle, Trustee at Hylton Castle Trust said: “Here at Hylton Castle Trust, we’re dedicated to giving back to the community that surrounds us.

“Across the year we run everything from family activities, sessions to let people develop their hobbies like our photography and crafts groups through to child-friendly activities like broomstick making, school visits, and family fun days. We also run a series of themed events at Easter, Halloween, Christmas and our recent Battle Re-enactments have attracted thousands of visitors.

“This Wellness Festival embodies everything we stand for. It’s about bringing people together, opening up our historic grounds to the whole community and making wellbeing something everyone can enjoy.

“We can’t wait to welcome visitors to Hylton Castle for what promises to be an unforgettable weekend.”

Kelly Brougham, Director at Active Families North East, said: “This year we’ve already run a number of Wellness Collective events at Hylton Castle, giving ticket-holders the chance to take time out of their busy schedules and prioritise their own wellbeing.

“After selling out our last 12 events, we want to come back bigger and better next year, to provide even more opportunities for people from across the region and beyond to prioritise their wellbeing.

“Although we’ve been dedicated to giving adults that much-needed ‘me-time’, we’ve also noticed a real gap in the wellness space for busy professionals and also their families, which is why we wanted to extend the festival to three days, to make sure there was space for everyone to take time out to focus on their health and wellbeing.”

Festival organisers will be putting a callout for suppliers and workshop leads in the coming weeks and those interested are urged to follow The North East Health and Wellness Festival’s social media channels for updates.

Kelly added: “We really want the very best of what the region has to offer in terms of wellness and health activities, which is why we wanted to open the event out even further to local suppliers, practitioners and businesses.

Whether you run yoga classes, offer holistic therapies or have a fresh idea for a family-friendly workshop, we’d love to hear from you.”

Tickets will be released in the coming months.More information at https://thewellnesscollectivene.co.uk/