Seattle Sauna Festival Returns to Ballard With 90-Minute Sessions

The Seattle Sauna Festival returns to the National Nordic Museum in Ballard on Nov. 7 and 8, its second year at the museum. Sauna sessions run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days, with cold plunges, live music, cultural performances and Nordic food and drink around them. Tickets are on sale through Eventbrite.

The ticket is the biggest change from year one. General admission is now $79 for a 90-minute timed session. At the first festival, on Nov. 1 and 2, 2025, $65 bought 60 minutes, according to the festival’s archived FAQ. That takes the price from about $1.08 a minute to about 88 cents. Both years’ prices include ticketing fees and taxes.

VIP turns into an all-day pass

The $189 VIP ticket now covers all day on Saturday or Sunday. Last year VIP was $165 for 90 minutes with merchandise, a snack box and a drink. Both tiers now include the museum’s galleries and exhibits, which are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on festival days. In 2025, festival guests got 50% off museum admission instead.

Regional operators bring the saunas

The organizer calls the grounds a “Sauna City,” a gathering of saunas from around the region, each with its own design and heat style. The festival’s site lists six Löyly partners: Hot Rocks Sauna Club, Willamette Sauna Haus, PNW Mobile Spa, Evergreen Sauna, Tempo Sauna and Tuffli Creative, a Portland-area builder that runs mobile sauna events. My Ballard’s list of companies scheduled to take part also names North Shore Sauna, Sauna Moon and Alma Saunas.

Ryan M. Davis and Ana Hernandez started the festival in 2025, My Ballard reported on Sept. 25. Davis got the idea from a sauna village at Minneapolis’s Great Northern festival. Hernandez owns PNW Mobile Spa, a family-run company that rents mobile wood-fired saunas, hot tubs and cold plunges for homes and public events.

Like Finland’s one-day Löylyfestivaali on the Kymijoki, the format gathers saunas from several operators on one site for a short run. Seattle’s version adds a museum and a timed general-admission ticket.

The 2026 program is still filling in

So far the festival schedule lists the sauna sessions, the museum’s Freya Cafe (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and a beer garden (noon to 7 p.m.) on both days. The organizer says more activities are being added, and everything on the schedule is included with a ticket, with no pre-registration. Last year’s schedule ran Aufguss shows by Sauna Soul Sister, venik whisking by North Shore Sauna, breathwork and cold plunge sessions by Space Bar Wellness, and a talk on floating saunas from Von Sauna and Wild Haus Sauna.

Before you go

Bring a bathing suit, a towel, a robe, shoes you can slip off and a water bottle. Swimwear is required, and you sit on your towel inside the saunas. Inside the museum you need a robe and footwear. There are changing areas and small lockers, but bring your own lock. The organizer suggests arriving already dressed for the sauna so you don’t spend session time changing.

Tickets are nonrefundable. The festival’s FAQ says you can transfer them through your Eventbrite account, and questions go to info@seattlesaunafestival.com. The SaunaNews event page carries the dates, hours and venue details.