A Festival for the Soul: Inside the Alma Festival at the Six Senses Ibiza
If you’re like us, you hear Ibiza and immediately think of the island’s booming nightlife. But far north of the infamous untz untz lies the idyllic Xarraca Bay. It’s here, etched into the craggy coast and overlooking the deep blue Mediterranean sea, that the visionary wellness and hospitality brand Six Senses set its much anticipated Balearic Islands outpost—and where the Alma Festival will take place for a third year in a row.
As its name, Alma, which means “soul” in Spanish, suggests, the four-day celebration promises spirituality, community, and, in fact, a true adventure for the soul. Combining music, art, healing, and spiritual practices, Alma is quietly reimagining the international music festival, which has, in the case of Coachella or Burning Man, been co-opted by those more interested in the costume parade than in a spiritual awakening. There’s a reason it’s dubbed “a festival with a different frequency”: It’s on another level entirely than the ones we have here in the U.S., due in no small part to the property’s serene setting and overall commitment to well-being.
A bit about the property itself: While good design and a high-end spa are table stakes in the luxury hotel arms race, Six Senses sets a new bar for both and one-ups its competitors in its commitment to sustainability. Accessed down a windy road and by way of a brief shamanic smoke-cleansing, the 137 guest accommodations manage to be both intimate and secretly sprawling, thanks to owner and architect Jonathan Leitersdorf's clever design, which nods to the local fisherman-hut tradition, with its low-slung structures and bamboo rooftops. White and bright, with a mix of tactile natural materials like rattan, leather, and pine, rooms—including singular cave suites carved into the cliffs—are at once crisp and earthy.
In its aesthetic and offerings, the resort epitomizes a quiet luxury and effortless chic that belies the resort’s hard-earned BREEAM certification, the benchmark for sustainable real estate worldwide. Impressively, up to 51 percent of the hotel’s power is generated from its own renewable energy. While you could do worse than to sit on your private terrace or by the pool overlooking the cliffs across the bay, you won’t want to miss out on the pioneering wellness program, which combines Caribbean traditions and “high-tech, high-touch therapies.” As a guest, your experience at the RoseBar spa is highly curated, with health screenings, cryotherapy, in-house experts, locally inspired treatments, and more, designed to enhance your spiritual well-being and longevity. (And yes, you can still get a great massage.)
Against the backdrop of Six Senses’s best-in-class offerings, the Alma Festival convenes a stellar lineup of international thought leaders to guide guests through the weekend. This year, speaker highlights include biohacker Ben Greenfield, stem cell expert Christian Drapeau, celebrity personal trainer Kim Strother, and mindful movement team Sanctum, among many others.
The festival opens with a welcome ceremony and is followed by a vibrant live concert, kicking off a journey of self-expression, discovery, and human connection. The fully immersive program that follows offers guests the freedom to curate their own experiences from a rich tapestry of wellness workshops at Six Senses, including yin yoga, primal movement, and sound healing, and is interspersed with guided mindfulness meditation sessions, family-style dinners, dancing, and mesmerizing musical performances.
This year, the Alma Festival will take place between November 6 and 9. Book your tickets now on its site or by contacting reservations directly.
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