In Seattle, November is usually something to face in a raincoat. At the National Nordic Museum, you can meet it in a bathing suit.
The Seattle Sauna Festival returns to Ballard November 7-8 for its second year, bringing mobile saunas from around the Northwest onto the museum grounds. Visitors can try several, cool off in a cold plunge and gather around a campfire between rounds.
In Finland, sauna is part of everyday life, at home and in public. UNESCO recognized Finnish sauna culture as intangible cultural heritage in 2020. At the heart of the tradition is löyly, the steam released when water is poured onto hot stones. The museum has a piece of the region’s sauna history, too. The Wierlo sauna, built more than a century ago on Finn Hill in what is now Kirkland, stands in its East Garden.
A cozy scene at last year’s Seattle Sauna Festival at the National Nordic Museum.
Courtesy of Seattle Sauna Festival
Seattle event planner Ryan M. Davis got the idea for the festival after visiting a sauna village at Minneapolis’s Great Northern festival. He teamed up with Ana Hernandez, owner of PNW Mobile Spa, to bring the concept here. “Seattle already has the perfect ingredients for a meaningful sauna culture: a deep connection to water and nature, an appreciation for Nordic heritage and a community that knows how to embrace the outdoors in every season,” Davis says. “This festival brings those qualities together in a way that is joyful, welcoming and distinctly Northwest.”
Between sauna rounds, there will be live music. The museum’s Freya Café and a beer garden will be open both days, and the preliminary music lineup includes Rachel Nesvig on the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle and Seattle guitarist PatRiff. Festival tickets also include admission to the museum’s galleries on the day of your visit.
General admission covers 90 minutes in the saunas, with cold plunges and festival programming included. An all-day option is available for visitors who want more time. Guests should arrive freshly showered and bring swimwear, a towel, a robe and a water bottle.
Ticket and session details are available here.
