HUNDREDS of Oxfordshire residents braved the strong winds and heavy rain caused by Storm Dennis to attend an exclusive vegan-themed yoga festival.
Queues of people armed with colourful rubber mats swarmed the Oxford Academy where the first class kicked-off at 10am.
There were 40 yoga and meditation classes, lectures on mental health and workshops for children available for the more than 700 visitors.
The event also featured an indoor market featured 60 stalls selling plant-based, cruelty-free, eco-friendly and ethically-sourced products by local independent businesses including clothing, accessories, vegan shoes, make-up and food.
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Organisers of the festival said the most popular dish was the vegan fish and chips stall by Shakey Shakey Vegan who had travelled all the way from London for the event.
This was the third annual festival in the city hosted by the community organisation Yogific, which holds wellness festivals and retreats across the UK and abroad with veganism at their core.
As explained on its website, the company's aim is to develop a community of vegan yogis who stand for 'true Ahimsa (non violence) – peace, love, and compassion for all living beings'.
Founder of Yogific Kriti Sachdeva said the event held at the Littlemore secondary school earlier in February was 'a roaring success' and that tickets were sold out in the first two weeks after the announcement.
She explained: "We were frantically refreshing our browsers to check the weather forecast in lead up to the event as weather warnings were issued.
"We were also considering cancelling the event but decided to trust the courage of Oxford by going ahead with the event as we remembered hosting a crowded first event in the middle of heavy snow back in March 2018.
"The people of Oxford did not disappoint us – although the official time of the event was 10am, visitors started coming at 9am and our first class of the day had 200."
The Lord Mayor of Oxford Craig Simmons also attended the festival to show his support.
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Ms Sachdeva said: "We were pleasantly surprised to hear that the Lord Mayor, who visited the event in the late afternoon, is not only vegan and also cares for the environment - in fact, he came on his bicycle.
"We have worked with mayors of various councils but we must say that Oxford has the coolest mayor ever."
Part of the proceeds from the Yogific event were donated to Mr Simmonds charity fund.
While there are no other dates announced for Oxfordshire this year, the community organisation will hold two other festivals in March and April.
Similarly to the event in Littlemore school, Yogific will host one vegan-themed event in Watford on March 21 and Kingston on April 25.
More information about tickets and locations can be found on its website https://yogific.org/all-events/
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