I'm sweating on the top bench of 70-person sauna looking out to the Williamsburg Bridge and a semi-frozen East River dotted with ice floes. Next to me is an economist from Ohio in a Korean head turban who has built a sauna from a former bread van. It's so popular he’s thinking of giving up the day job.
This gloriously eccentric scenario (one that is somehow so New York) has come about thanks to Culture of Bathe-ing, the city’s first sauna festival. The festival, which took place earlier this month in Brookyln’s Domino Park, featured 15 mobile saunas, from Airstreams to shipping containers, to tent saunas and barrels, and a programme of wellness events hosted by leading New York bathhouses and wellness practitioners from all over the US.
A communal schvitz during the Culture of Bathe-ing festival in New York
The festival is the brainchild of global spa group Therme which is planning bathing complexes in Washington, Manchester, Dubai and beyond. Its aim, says Therme US president Robert Hammond, is ‘to reframe bathing as a collective cultural experience rather than as a personalized wellness retreat.’
Hammond has form when it comes to cultural interventions in New York; he made the High Line happen, and with Culture of Bathe-ing hopes to bring the cultures of midwestern sauna communities, New York bathhouses and Californian counter-culture together under one roof.
READ: New York’s iconic Russian & Turkish Baths is where the city goes to ‘schvitz’
In New York especially bathing has always been communal and cultural – from Jewish schvitzes to Russian banyas to the Korean spas. But a new generation of bathhouses, incorporating elevated design, thoughtful sound and lighting, guided rituals and hospitality that feels more aligned to boutique hotels is reworking traditions of old for new audiences. The festival, in all its bathrobed glory, establishes New York as the bathing capital of the US.
What's driving the bathing boom?
A view inside Akari, a Brooklyn bathing club.
‘New York creates the perfect conditions for this renaissance,’ says Alex Feldman, founder of Saint which opens in Manhattan this spring. ‘It’s dense, fast, and stimulating, but offers few places for true privacy or quiet. Most people can’t fit a sauna into their apartment, so these experiences move into the city.’
In an age of ubiquitous tech, alcohol-fueled socialising and denser-than-ever living conditions, bath houses are ‘elsewhere’ spaces where people can unwind, go analogue and enjoy something that is good for their health. ‘There’s an immediate feedback loop with sauna,’ says Shayna Olsan co-founder of Akari which opens its third Japanese-inspired bathhouse in Manhattan this year. ‘It’s a struggle to feel your best in a city as grinding as New York, and other fitness, wellness and dietary practices might require longer stretches of adherence to notice an impact. Saunas provide an easy entry point for everyone.’
‘It’s a struggle to feel your best in a city as grinding as New York...Saunas provide an easy entry point for everyone'
Mauri Waneka, founder Schwet
‘New York is intense social and physical and people want experiences that feel real and communal,’ says Mauri Waneka, co-founder of the 600 sq m bathing bacchanalia Schwet. ‘Bathing culture fits this psychology perfectly.’ Taking many of its cues from Russian banya culture, this spring, Schwet opens its doors with experiential and private members events.
What do the new bathhouses offer that the old school venues don’t?
A view of the outdoor section of Akari in Brooklyn.
Unlike banyas and shvitzes which are bound by centuries of tradition and can feel intimidating to the uninitiated, the new generation of bathhouses come with accessible programming (think: breath work, meditation and contrast therapy) and updated menus (matcha and electrolytes rather than vodka and borscht). Both bring communities together in their own ways, but sober sauna raves with DJs and live music at venues such as the Bathhouse and Othership are catnip in a city that is always chasing the new, unexpected and exciting. What’s more, says Olsan, ‘there’s an appetite for shared experiences that aren’t centred on consumption.’
And there are plenty of environments to choose from. New York’s rich tapestry of bathing cultures and traditions inspires unexpected mash-ups of ancient and modern, luxurious and simple, solitary and communal. Styrmir Eil, co-founder of Sund, which opens later this year, explains. 'Some are like spas - great for dates and anniversaries; others are more ritualistic, or lean into health and biohacking. The old school venues are simpler and more raw in the best sense.’
What are the most stylish names in the space?
A view inside the hushed interiors of Saint, designed by Bond.
In 2027, Sund will bring Icelandic and Nordic-inspired bathing traditions to a rooftop in Manhattan and Othership, which pioneered the new wave bathing opens a 14,000 square foot space with dining and additional bathing options the Upper East Side. This spring, Saint, a hushed sanctuary with four private saunas and ice bath studios designed by Bond architects opens in Manhattan and hot on its heels is Furoya, a Japanese-inspired bathhouse.
New York is racing ahead because it always does, but with sauna operators from Miami, San Diego and Austin, Texas, also present at the festival, the bathing boom is not restricted to cities with cold winters. Emily Bent, co-founder of Othership explains. ‘Even in warm climates, people are seeking structured rituals to help them relax. The movement is a return to something very old, expressed in a modern way.’