On Saturday 22 October, Adelaide’s Rundle Mall made history with 385 people bending and stretching for an early morning yoga session that ran the length of the premier shopping precinct.

The session, ‘Rundle Mall’s Biggest Yoga Session’, was held on Saturday as part of this month’s WellFest Adelaide, a city-wide festival celebrating all things health and wellness.

The session is understood to be the largest yoga session in an Australian shopping precinct, beating the previous record set by Caneland Central in Queensland that attracted 356 participants in 2019.

WellFest Adelaide is a city-wide health and wellness festival, delivered by the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA), with AEDA also responsible for managing the Rundle Mall shopping precinct.

AEDA, Rundle Mall Executive Manager, Andrew White, participated in the session and said he was pleased to see so many people in the Mall as the event came to life.

“WellFest Adelaide is all about celebrating all things wellbeing, and encouraging mindfulness, and the yoga session did just that,” he said. “It was a wonderful way to start my weekend.

“The event demonstrated the way we, as a shopping precinct, want to activate and add value to our retailers and customers. It was great to see hundreds of people enjoying Rundle Mall in a unique way, with many then heading into the Mall’s arcades, centres and food courts to enjoy a coffee and breakfast, before shopping at their favourite stores.”

Yoga instructors from leading Adelaide yoga studio Yoga Theory ran the sold-out event which raised $8,000 for charity, with 100% of proceeds from ticket sales going directly to Beyond Blue’s 24/7 Support Service, which gives every person in Australia the opportunity to talk through their concerns with a trained mental health professional.

All participants received an official WellFest Adelaide gift bag valued at over $170, including a yoga mat, Rundle Mall shopping voucher, Rundle Mall x Frank Green water bottle, a coffee voucher and more.