Splish Splash
Highlights from the Culture of Bathing Variety Show, and how to build the perfect sauna
We’re still on a sauna high after our first BIG live event. Below are a few Variety Show highlights, and an introduction to some of the bathing characters we’ll be featuring in the coming weeks.
Variety Show darlings
“The hand puppeteer and torch singer in the itsy-bitsy rosy bikini was my fave… And why was a Norwegian architect scribbling on an overhead projector funny?? It was.” Kathy Nielson, Kabuki Springs & Spa
A public audience of 450 packed out the Culture of Bathing Variety Show at the New School, opened by The Serafinas with a splish-splashing dance number inspired by legendary swimmer turned dancer Esther Williams:
Video: Peter Fleissig
Here are a few of our favorite moments from the Culture of Bathing Variety Show:
Bridget Barkan’s raucous performance recreated a mud scrub with Igor at the Russian & Turkish Baths using shadow puppets…
Meet the cast of characters
Sauna Siren Megan Kress of Sauna du Nord introduced the Sauna Bro along with some choice phrases to help you identify one in the wild. Look out for Sauna Bro Bingo with Megan – coming soon.
Paddy Lynch, funeral director by day and proprietor of The Schvitz in Detroit by night, explained how he took over an old Jewish bathhouse patronized by mafia clientele and featuring swingers night programming. Coming soon, the revival of The Schvitz and other historic bathhouses.
How to build a perfect sauna? Finnish architect Sami Rintala demonstrates…
Architect Sami Rintala has probably designed more saunas than anyone else - saunas floating on rivers or perched on rocks, luxury forest retreats and a huge traveling sauna for an arts festival. He wowed us at the Variety Show by sketching his own “perfect” sauna in Norway. Sami explains what it takes to design a good sauna.
“A good sauna must have the right proportions, materials, and ventilation. And a good sauna oven. There are all kinds of sweat-inducing boxes that are allowed to carry the name sauna these days, something that makes a connoisseur both sad and frustrated. In a good sauna it is easy to breathe, the heat is soft and not too high and there is just the right amount of natural light.
My mountain sauna in Norway is the best I have experienced. It’s a combination of a few principles and pure good luck. It sits on a hill, with a washing room on the lower level and the sauna on the upper level – both part of the same space. I only use wood and natural stone – if you deviate from these, the sauna can only get worse.
“You realise you are standing in -20°C naked and steaming and you don’t care, because you are part of nature”
We carried a huge flat stone to put under the oven and built a stone wall behind it. The stone is always cool. It collects humidity and balances the heat of the rest of the space. The double height space and slightly open timber floor mean the air circulates well. It’s a combination of all these things which a physicist could probably explain that makes for a lucky result and good steam.
The drama of the setting is part of it. In winter we ski for one hour uphill to reach the sauna. No matter how cold it is, you are hot when you arrive. Then we usually have to clear snow from the roofs. Meanwhile while the sauna heats. You have cold fingers and toes and then you start melting. You jump in the snow between saunas so you become tempered to the climate. You realise you are standing in -20°C naked and steaming and you don’t care, because you are part of nature. It’s about this filter between your normal life and becoming part of the landscape.”
Sami Rintala @rintalaeggertsson
West Coast Sauna Summit
While we were holed up in urban bathhouses in NYC, on the other side of the country at the West Coast Sauna Summit the focus was on sauna as a vehicle to get people outdoors and deep into nature amid the spectacular scenery of Pacific Northwest.
Happenings
FinnFest 2025
FinnFest celebrates Finnish culture with music, food, and… sauna. Featuring an all-day sauna seminar and authentic sauna experiences by Cedar and Stone Nordic Sauna. Grab an early bird ticket before January 31.
July 31 - August 3, 2025, Duluth Minnesota
Valentine’s Day at World Spa
Are you looking for a steamy romantic experience in New York City? Book a V-day package at World Spa for an unforgettable date.
February 14, 2024, Brooklyn, NY
Bathing in the news
“Archaeologists have discovered a sumptuous private bathhouse complete with hot, warm and cold rooms, exquisite artwork, and a huge plunge pool.” Archaeologists have excavated a private bath complex in a luxurious villa in Pompeii.
BBC, January 17, 2025
“Global Wellness Tourism Surges Toward The $1 Trillion Mark” and sauna is a big part of that. It’s making people money… a lot of it.
Forbes, January 17, 2025
“The World’s Largest Human Gathering Begins in India” as about 400 million Hindu pilgrims from around the globe are expected to bathe in and around the Ganges River in the religion’s biggest display of unity.
New York Times, January 14, 2025
One last thing
Leave it to our Canadian friends at Unbounded to remind us that we could always be colder this winter….
We’d love to hear from you - please send a DM, or email hello@cultureofbathing.com