Community, spirituality, celebration: Alma festival launches in Ibiza

You’ve been at the vanguard of luxury hospitality for years – why the shift towards wellness?

Originally, I was actually working in fashion. Then I moved over to hotels with Blakes in London and then I began to work with [iconic US hotelier] André Balazs. I opened the Chiltern Firehouse with him and I worked on Chateau Marmont in LA and The Mercer in New York. It was a very high-octane world of hospitality and lifestyle and I absolutely loved it, but I also knew there was something missing. I was spending summers in Ibiza and when I was introduced to Jonathan [Leitersdorf] at La Paloma we really hit it off. I think we both realised that Ibiza was the place to combine the world I had come from with a very soulful, connected, island element. That’s what the whole Six Senses Ibiza story has always been about - community, spirituality and celebration. That ethos is reflected in the architecture and the programming and the sustainability credentials. 

Why did you choose November – traditionally a quiet month on Ibiza - to launch the festival?

We always knew that if we were going to fill a hotel of this size all year, then people had to feel called to visit outside of their usual ’holiday’ schedule. There had to be a stronger narrative than just relaxing or having fun. We chose November for Alma because it’s one of the most beautiful months of the year here and there is very little tourism at that time. Extending the season is beneficial to the local economy and may even – given time - take pressure off Ibiza’s compromised infrastructure during the summer season. All locals know that off season is the best time of year, so we wanted to create a moment where the closings have happened and that’s it from the clubs and the nightlife, but now this is the opening for cool season, as we call it, which runs from November to March. It’s really important to us to pioneer this movement toward Ibiza out of summer and to get people to take notice and jump on a plane from London or Paris or even New York to experience it. 

What distinguishes Alma from other wellness festivals around the world?

Alma is absolutely about the calibre of the teachers, speakers and visionaries that we have invited. It’s about bringing together the finest wellness luminaries on the planet and integrating them with the best of Ibiza’s local practitioners. Let’s not forget, this island has a more healers, therapist, scholars and yogis than just about any place on earth. Maybe only Bali comes close. So, what we've done is connect progressive thought leaders like Dave Asprey, who’s known as the godfather of biohacking, and Michael Acton-Smith, the founder of the Calm app, and Taryn Toomey from The Class, with extraordinary island residents like Stephanie Long Canavesio, the therapist who trained with Gabor Mate and Giancarlo Canavesio, whose Mangu TV platform creates the most mind-blowing conscious and regenerative films. This is the magic – the coming together of these visionaries, these thinkers, in one beautiful space to heal and to lead and to teach and to co-create. There’s going to be ceremony and music and it will be very experiential. Sure, there are a few keynotes, but the beauty of Alma is that guests will be physically immersed in these healing modalities. It’s time to nourish your body and take that time for us and for our communities. It's time to choose our own adventures. 

For more details visit the Alma website.