What to wear to a fitness festival

Start with the day you are dressing for

If you are wondering what to wear to a fitness festival, picture the day first. At one of ours you might do a sweaty class at ten, lie on a mat for Pilates at eleven, walk the vendor village, jog the community run and walk, and then stand around in the sun talking for an hour. That's five different jobs for one outfit. Dress for the hardest one and the rest take care of themselves.

Our festivals are mostly outside. Waterloo Park in Austin. The field at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Waterfront Park in San Diego. Our listings say rain or shine, and we mean it, so plan for some weather.

The top half

Wear something you're fine sweating through. A light tee or a tank works. Heavy cotton is the one thing we'd skip, because once it's wet it stays wet and you'll feel it all afternoon. If any class on your list involves jumping, wear a sports bra that actually holds things in place. You'll thank yourself during the burpees.

The bottom half

Leggings or shorts that stay put when you squat, lunge or roll onto your back. Pockets are a gift here, since your ticket lives on your phone and you'll want a card for the vendors. One old trick that still works: do a deep squat in front of a mirror at home. If you can see through them, so can the row behind you.

Shoes matter most

You'll be on grass, concrete and maybe turf for hours. Wear shoes you've already broken in. A festival is a terrible place to discover a new pair rubs your heel. Running shoes are fine for most of what we teach. If you know you're doing a lot of lifting or quick side steps, a flatter trainer is steadier.

For mat classes, plenty of people kick their shoes off and go barefoot or in socks. So, small thing, wear socks you don't mind people seeing.

Layers for the in-between hours

Mornings at an outdoor festival can be cool, middays can be hot, and by the lake in Chicago the wind does whatever it wants. A long sleeve or light jacket you can tie around your waist solves most of it. Add a cap and sunglasses for midday. Put sunscreen on before you leave home, because you will forget once you're there.

If rain is in the forecast, toss a packable rain jacket and a dry pair of socks in your bag. Then check your event listing that morning, since that's where any weather change gets posted.

Things we'd leave at home

New shoes, obviously. Necklaces and big earrings that swing into your face during a plank. Your favorite white anything. And the extra hoodie you're bringing just in case, which you'll end up carrying for six hours.

Matching sets, old race shirts, all of it

You'll see crews in full matching sets and people in a shirt from a 5K in 2014. Nobody cares, and that's the nice part. If the event has a theme, go for it. At our Pickle in Pink tournament, pink is basically the dress code.

What goes in the bag

Clothes are half of it. The other half is the bag: mat, water bottle, phone with your ticket, sunscreen, a towel. We wrote a separate checklist on what to bring to a wellness festival.

Just doing one class?

Going to an outdoor mat session instead of a full festival day? Same rules, plus a thicker mat if it's on grass. Our outdoor Pilates events page has the details for those.

See you out there

Pick a date on our events calendar, or look up every city we've been to on the fitness festival tour page.

Questions people ask