The GWI Hot Springs Initiative team has organised a live international soaking event to unite the world around the age-old tradition of hot springs bathing, on 13 and 14 November 2020.

Live-streamed on Facebook and Soakember.com the event will run simultaneously at hot springs in Japan, France, Hungary, China, Germany, Austria, Australia, the US, Slovenia, New Zealand and Costa Rica.

Thermal operators, Ensana and Toskanaworld, have also confirmed that some of their European destinations will be participating.

Initiative member and co-owner of The Springs in Colorado, David Dronet, has spearheaded the function to celebrate hot springs’ healing powers and the diversity of global bathing traditions.

“Hot spring communities of the world are coming together in the shared belief that hot springs and hydrothermal thermal therapy can provide the mind, body and soul with the rejuvenation and renewal that so many of us need,” he commented.

Initiative chair, Charles Davidson, introduced the event this week at the 2020 GWS, saying: “Though we’re all separated by oceans, we’re all connected by water”.

Davidson is the co-founder and chair of Peninsula Hot Springs in Australia and has visited 51 countries during hot springs research missions.

“Hot springs and hydrothermal therapies have been at the centre of many of the great wellness cultures throughout history,” he said.

“During these difficult times when the world has been so impacted by COVID-19, it’s important that we remember how beneficial mother nature can be to our health and wellbeing.

“Let’s soak together, to heal together.”

To find out more about participating properties and scheduling, follow this link.