A HOTEL in Bodrum is to become the new venue for the SunSplash Festival – a fusion of dance, yoga and healthy living.

The festival, founded by Turkish Londoner Serkan Cetin, will be hosted at the palm-fringed Aspat Beach from June 2 to 7.

The festival, which originated out of Antalya for five years, is moving from its spiritual home to the Aspat in order to increase capacity to 1,000 stayers, while also attracting the Istanbul party set and the international dance party crowd.

SunSplash’s main line-up, pulled together from all over the world, includes: Zara McFarlane, Osunlade, Gilles Peterson, William Adamson, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Karizma, Phil Asher, Rainer Trueby, Patrick Forge, Alex Attias, Lefto, Kev Beadle, Mighty Zaf, Ruben Estevez, Ahu, Kaan Duzarat, DJSoulProvider, Cegiz Ulusahin, Ertan Kurt, Yek, Manasseh.

Serkan, speaking to The Independent, said: “In the past we have had an attendance of around 400 people per year, but I think this year we could see numbers rising to 1000.

“We are moving location to Bodrum and have a beach front venue with a larger capacity than our previous spot in Antalya.”

The festival pulls in an international crowd, although mainly from the UK and Europe, as well as dance-goers from as far as Canada and Brazil to Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.

He said the age of the party goers are between 26–40-something, with people bringing their families along.

He added: “Although it is inspired by an eclectic combination of outdoor events such as London’s Notting Hill Carnival, Womad and Bestival, SunSplash aimed to be more musically focused and more boutique; pitched at a discerning crowd of around 500-1000 serious music lovers.”

This year’s yoga program will be organised by David Cornwell of Advayta Yoga. David will begin the program with a seminar introducing seated meditation. Each day there will be two yoga classes, a vigorous morning practice, and a quiet evening ‘yin’ practice to wind down.

On the programme, will be Turkish artists including Ahu, a Turkish singer/songwriter who has worked with the likes of Flying Lotus and Simbad; Kaan Duzarat, an established local deejay and producer who runs solid club nights in Istanbul; Oojami, another producer and DJ.

For more details visit the website: http://sunsplash-festival.com/