With sauna venues sprouting, what was once a niche industry is sharing ideas on creating new community spaces. In the UK, a wave of mobile or permanent saunas have appeared, mostly at the seaside or beside lakes. There are more than 100 around the UK and Ireland, with more than 30 appearing in the past six months.
British innovations include grief saunas – gatherings inspired by Irish wakes – yoga saunas, life drawing classes, and transgender or men’s circle saunas. Traditional third places such as pubs and churches are in decline, but sauna operators are making conscious efforts to build communities.
“There is a resurgence of sauna as community spaces,” Mika Meskanen, chair of the British Sauna Society, said. “The Roman baths in ancient Britain had that social function – meeting places, places for getting healthy and exercising. I call them friend-making boxes – people go in, they might not know each other, but they come out as friends” – The Guardian
