What I Learned About UK Sauna Culture at the Aufguss Championships 2026

I spent a day at the UK Aufguss Championships at Galgorm Resort in Belfast in April — seven Aufguss sessions, a rave sauna, and sixty people singing along to Michael Jackson in intense heat. I came back knowing far more about UK sauna culture than I had going in.

Up until that point I’d enjoyed saunas — visiting them, writing about them, building a directory of wild saunas across Scotland. But that day in Galgorm, and a conversation with Gabrielle Reason, Director of the British Sauna Society, opened up a world of sauna culture in the UK I hadn’t known existed. She spoke about the rapid growth of saunas across the UK, accreditation, and growing interest from the medical community.

I did some research when I got home. This is what I found.

The numbers — how fast is UK sauna culture growing?

The British Sauna Society now lists over 600 public saunas across the UK. In Fife alone, new saunas have been appearing along the coast regularly — I’ve been adding them to Wild Sauna Guide faster than I can visit them.

These aren’t home saunas or gym steam rooms. These are public, community and commercial saunas — beach saunas, lochside saunas, woodland retreats, urban community bathhouses. The kind you book into, often beside cold water, often outside.

Scotland has embraced outdoor saunas — the coastline, the wild swimming culture and the landscape make it a natural fit. It’s partly why I started Wild Sauna Guide.

More than just heat

The social side of sauna is attracting attention. Research published in Social Science and Medicine in 2026 found that shared sauna rituals significantly boost wellbeing through the connections people make in them — suggesting there’s something about the shared experience that goes beyond just the heat.

In Fife, Viking Heat Retreat has built a genuine community around their sessions — combining a running club with sauna, with regulars who come back week after week. When I visited, one of the women described it as finding her tribe.

While much of sauna’s appeal is social, it’s also beginning to attract attention from healthcare professionals.

Sauna and the medical world

One topic that came up in my conversation with Gabrielle was growing interest from the medical community. I looked into it afterwards.

In September 2025, Dr Kath Jones — an NHS GP — and Polly Wilson from Community Sauna Baths presented at the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine annual conference in Brighton. Their presentation made the case for sauna as part of a broader approach to health — drawing on research, clinical experience and community sauna projects across the UK. The British Sauna Society wrote about it here.

Having NHS GPs present sauna at a medical conference is notable. It suggests the conversation is moving beyond lifestyle interest into something more substantive.

Making sauna a profession

One of the most significant things the British Sauna Society has been working on is a national framework for people who work in sauna.

The framework sets out three tiers of sauna professional: Sauna Host, Sauna Guide and Sauna Master — each with its own defined responsibilities and level of expertise. The broader goal is to have sauna formally recognised as a profession by the Department for Education, working with HABIA, the UK body that sets standards for the hair, beauty and wellness industries.

For wild and outdoor saunas, this is relevant. More saunas mean more variety in quality and experience — a recognised professional standard gives visitors confidence that what they’re attending will be safe and well run.

The British Sauna Society

The British Sauna Society is a not-for-profit organisation that has been championing sauna culture in the UK since 2014. Beyond the Aufguss Championships, they run a range of events including the annual Sauna Summit, the Brighton Sauna Festival and the Sauna Awards. They also maintain a UK-wide sauna directory and run accreditation for operators and sauna professionals.

For wild sauna operators, accreditation is worth knowing about. It’s not mandatory, but it signals a commitment to safety and quality — and I link to it on relevant listings across Wild Sauna Guide.

Just getting started

I started Wild Sauna Guide to document what was happening with outdoor saunas in Scotland — the settings, the cold water, the people you meet. I didn’t expect to find myself reading about professional frameworks and medical conferences.

I came away knowing a lot more about UK sauna culture than I did going in — and with a lot more still to explore.

My Day at the UK Aufguss Championships 2026. I spent a day at Galgorm Resort in Belfast watching seven Aufguss performances — a team session about childhood friends, a Modern Classic that was unexpectedly emotional, and a rave sauna with bucket hats. Here’s what it was actually like.

→ Read the article