Diana Bayliss has been performing this beautiful art for more than 25 years. She originally trained with puppet master Puran Bhatt in India, learning the skilful hand techniques with fingers directly controlling the puppet strings.

Expect beautiful, hand carved, string puppets, colourful cloths and dynamic music in this ancient and popular folk entertainment from the desert land of Rajasthan in North India.

Traditional Indian puppets show their skills: a snake charmer with his deadly cobra, camels, horses, gorgeous dancers, a juggler, magician and more.

After an outstanding performance at IYOGA Fest 2025, we are delighted to welcome back world-renowned performers, Emily Hennessey and sitar player extraordinaire, Sheema Mukherjee to this year’s festival.

They will be performing the famous Indian story of Ramayana. Deep in the forest where Rama & Sita live in exile, eyes watch their every move and the universe shimmers with illusion.

When Sita is kidnapped by the ten-headed demon king, Rama needs all the help he can get. Who better to have on your side than a shape-shifting monkey?

 But there’s only one thing worse than a bloodthirsty demon, and that’s his Big Brother. As Rama lies helpless on the battlefield, it’s time for Sita’s little known story to unfold. Expect the unexpected.

There is always a musical element to IYOGA Fest - and this year we are super-excited to welcome THE TROUBLE NOTES.

Faye Hatcher, BBC Radio

“The Troublenotes are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Their musical influences take you on a journey around the world. You can’t help clap very loudly, tap your feet or spontaneously jig along to their music! An absolute must-see!!”

Rachel has been a big fan of Bennet and Florian’s band, The Trouble Notes, since she first saw them live at Wickham Festival a few years ago. After working with them for a short while on another project, they have become friends and she is delighted that they’ve agreed to stop by on their European tour to come and play for IYOGA Fest 2026!

The Trouble Notes' music is an eclectic fusion of genre across the entirety of the musical spectrum, creating a sound that is truly unique to its own. Hailing from different contries, each member of the group brings a different musical training and perspective to the band. The emotional, pan-cultural music of the group, forms personal memories into a colorful melting pot of different traditions, touching on deep and complex stories of the human condition and social experiences.

If you would like to book for just this gig, you can do so via this link: https://square.link/u/FtAmx6s4

We are delighted to welcome back Harshini Wikramanayake to give a one-off lecture on Ayurveda and the connect with yoga and health living.

Harshini grew up in Colombo, Sri Lanka – leaving in her late teens to attend university in Canada. During the three and half decades since leaving Sri Lanka, Harshini has lived, worked and studied in Toronto, New York and London. Harshini’s family still lives in Colombo and she regularly returns home.

Harshini grew up in a family that frequently used Ayurvedic Medicine to complement Western Medicine. At the age of eight, Harshini met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who initiated her to the practice Transcendental Meditation. 

As she moved to North America for university and pursued a career in Brand Management for a large multinational company, Harshini lost contact with many of her family’s Ayurvedic practices. In an attempt to find balance in her high paced, stressful corporate life, Harshini began to practice Iyengar Yoga, which in turn led to a rediscovery of her traditional medicine roots.

https://www.saneepa.com/about-1