CANMORE – Self-described lazy vegan and opinionated introvert, Danielle LaPorte is ready to discuss sourcing true power and joy at the second annual Thrive Festival in Canmore.
Chosen as the keynote speaker for the three-day festival in November, the Canadian-based author will be kicking off the festivities on Friday with an interactive Q-and-A about tapping into your true power.
Inviting locals and visitors to a weekend of wellness and health, Thrive organizer Cheryl Cooper said organizers learned a lot after the inaugural event last year and are excited to implement the changes.
"After last year's festival, we got feedback and tried to take in the information we got and incorporate it into this year's festival," Cooper said.
Changing the original four-day format to a three-day weekend instead, the festival will also be located more centrally to the downtown core, as opposed to spread throughout the community.
"People just basically said it was too much movement, so we tried to keep it very centralized – the Malcolm Hotel is the hub with various locations around town where people can pick and choose their experiences," Cooper said.
While the first day of the festival hosts the opening celebrations and the Q-and-A with LaPorte, the second day will feature various fitness and yoga classes, outdoor health and wellness programs, cooking classes and workshops throughout the day from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. The third and final day invites attendees to join the experiential health and wellness expo and market place with HEDx talks through the day.
"The vision is to really try to get people in the community to experience health and wellness and experience, essentially, highlights of what Canmore is all about," Cooper said.
"And we definitely love the idea of being able to show off what we got and give people the opportunity to get out of their day-to-day lives and relax and enjoy and think about self care – to think about different aspects that keep them balanced and healthy and inspired to be healthier and take better care of themselves."
The second annual festival kicks off on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. and runs to Nov. 10 with the last event at 3 p.m.
For more information visit thrivefestivalcanmore.com.
