Mic check (one, two, one two). Let’s warm up and get ready for the Nike Well Festival taking place in Newtown on April 13 — the brand's first fitness festival to be held in the Joburg CBD.

With a helping hand from the Nike Well Collective — a dream team of trainers, coaches, and wellness and nutrition experts — wellness has never looked this good. They'll be hosting energy-charged wellness and fitness sessions throughout the festival, which is a full-day affair. Doors open at 9am and close at 9pm; get there bright and early to enjoy the cool vibes. 

Fire up those glutes with an amapiano step class or indulge in a multisensory chroma-yoga session — the fun, interactive activities on offer are guaranteed to tick all the wellness boxes: movement, rest, mindfulness, nutrition and connection. Additional sensory activities, courtesy of the Style Lab, for those final glow-up touches is just what the doctor ordered.

With specialists stationed at all corners, festivalgoers will be guided by the Nike Well Collective to curate a tailored fitness and wellness experience to meet their goals.

“The Nike Well Collective is designed to support wellbeing journeys for everyone, however they define them,” says Amy Montagne, global women's vice-president and GM at Nike. “It celebrates all bodies and all forms of movement. Because we know holistic fitness is more than just sport — it’s focusing on body, mind and life.”

Yoga coach and wellness expert Thando Grace has only praise for the Well Collective’s diversity and the many faces of wellness.    

“Looking at the Well Collective, [it] is a wild selection of people from different backgrounds. Everyone is coming in with their expertise — it’s such a wonderful way to reach people,” she says.

“There may be someone in the crowd looking at me and thinking to themselves that I’m more like them, and another person will look at another coach thinking they look like them. The specialists are relatable and are changing the narrative of what a wellness coach looks like.”

Bringing good vibrations at the Sanctuary with a sound-meditation experience, wellbeing expert Tiffany Lekuku is honoured to be one of the experts leading her community and the youth of Joburg in conversations about wellness and wellbeing.   

“I am grateful to be a part of the Well Collective at the festival. I’m excited that more people will learn and understand the different ways and avenues to wellness,” she says. “Wellness doesn’t have a particular face — it’s for all types of people and ages.” 

Located at the Rhythm Studio, Hyrox enthusiast and fitness coach Zaakirah Khalek is ecstatic to be part of the Well Collective and says mindfulness is central to wellness and fitness.   

“The future of fitness is the rise of less intense workouts, focusing on the mind-body connection, with a growing emphasis on recovery and the importance of sleep. Sleep is important for performance while training, as well as mental health,” says Khalek. 

“Shifting the image of fitness means not just training your glutes or training to look a certain way — it’s also about the other areas, which include yoga and meditation. How I view it, fitness feeds into wellness, as fitness is as much a holistic practice as wellness.” 

For more information about the Nike Well Festival, click here.

This article was sponsored by Nike.