Sauna Days at Larsmont Cottages

Rejuvenate & Relax with a Saunacation

Sauna Days is an annual festival dedicated to all things Finnish. Enjoy three full days of unique sauna sessions with our expanded lineup of mobile saunas. Cold plunge in the World's Coldest Lake - Lake Superior, and enjoy local craft beer & spirits and delicious offerings from local food vendors while enjoying the rhythms of live music. Between sauna sessions, you can dive deeper into the world of sauna wellness with informative sessions led by leading experts in the field. Learn about the health benefits, cultural significance, and timeless traditions that make sauna bathing a cherished ritual around the globe.

Alternative Lodging

Premiere Sponsors

2025 Speaker Lineup Coming Soon

Speakers & Presenters

Glenn Auerbach
Glenn started SaunaTimes back in 2008. He also authored a book on how to build a sauna and founded the Sauna Talk Podcast in 2016. As a founding board member of the Sauna Research Institute and Sauna Aid, Glenn is a strong advocate for the benefits of sauna. He was the mastermind behind Sauna Days and hopes that everyone has a great time this year.
Nick Fox
Nick Fox is Minnesota’s first certified Wim Hof Method (WHM) Instructor. He offers both Fundamental and Advanced WHM workshops across the midwest, coaches athletes in Oxygen Advantage breathwork, and teaches Winter Dipping classes at the American Swedish Institute. He also runs a portable sauna at Lake Nokomis and started his own business called FoxFire Breathworks in 2023.
Jen Gilhoi
Jen Gilhoi is a dynamic TEDx speaker and innovative thought leader dedicated to wellness and intentional living. As the co-founder of Zero Proof Collective and Sauna and Sobriety, Jen is at the forefront of the mindful living movement, advocating for healthier choices and meaningful connections. In her talk titled "Sauna, Sobriety, and the Space Between," she will explore the transformative power of traditional wellness practices and the journey of sobriety, shedding light on the profound impact they can have on our daily lives.
Dan Bondarenko
Dan is a first-generation immigrant from Riga, Latvia. Despite being away from the motherland, his family retained a lot of our Slavic culture here in Minnesota. Banya, another form of sauna, was deeply rooted in their souls. His upbringing and ancestral roots inspired him to create Banya House to raise awareness that, given the right conditions, the body is able to heal and restore itself. Follow Dan on Instagram
Megan Kress
Megan Kress owns and operates Sauna du Nord in Duluth, MN. She believes in the many documented health and wellness benefits of sauna but is most inspired by sauna magic: the community and connection that come from spending time amongst cedar benches, wood stoves, and good löyly with the backdrop of The North right outside the sauna door.
Jake Newport
Jake is the CEO and founder of several wellness brands, notably Finnmark Sauna. Finnmark is the UK's largest sauna company, providing everything from equipment and materials for DIY customers and modular and kit saunas to full high-end bespoke design and installation services. Jake, inspired to change careers and create Finnmark following life-changing sauna experiences in Finland and the Nordic states nearly a decade ago, is very well-known and highly regarded within the sauna industry.
Alex Blyashuk
Owner of Bsaunas USA, Veniks Specialist, and regarded entrepreneur. Alex loves saunas and everything about them and is on a mission to introduce more people to the sauna culture.
Steve Kajala
Steve is the Founder and Admin of Sauna Design, Construction, Use, and Enjoyment, the largest English-language based Sauna Group on Facebook. He has been a sauna enthusiast since he was a few months old, and he's an adoptee into a 3rd-generation Finnish-American Family. Steve originally hails from Virginia, MN, but now lives on Lake Vermilion.
Robert Hammond
Robert Hammond is the President and Chief Strategy Officer for Therme Group US. He is excited about translating the success of the Therme product and programming for the expansion into the United States. Robert comes to Therme after serving for over two decades as Co-Founder and Executive Director of the High Line, where he led the transformation of an abandoned elevated railway line in Manhattan into an iconic urban park.
Mika Meskanen
Co-founder, British Sauna Society. A Finnish-born but London-based sauna believer by night and a designer in tech startup world by day. In his world, the pursuit of löyly, freediving, breathwork, Finnish cosmology, and immersive sauna rituals mix with pixels, quantum computing, and AI. Ten years ago Mika and a small group of enthusiasts founded the British Sauna Society and helped galvanize a new UK sauna movement around a shared vision. Together with his partner Wendy, they run guided sauna experiences and wellbeing retreats such as SaunaWave.
Wendy Liu
Wendy is an architect, yoga teacher, and co-founder of The British Sauna Society. She leads the Arts and Culture program for the BSS and is a Board member of Sauna Aid. Wendy practices sauna rituals worldwide and runs a sauna retreat in Finland with her partner Mika. She is passionate about promoting well-being for the mind, body, and soul through a compassionate approach.
Alex Makhaidinov
Alex moved to America about five years ago. As a passionate aficionado of sauna culture and everything related, he became one of the pioneers who introduced portable saunas to San Diego, California. He studied the art of sauna practices under leading experts from overseas and shares this knowledge through his sauna business The Banya.
Shane Lintunen
Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to Finnish immigrants, Shane lived in Finland for seven months, where he experienced the traditional savusauna. He has designed and built three saunas and a built-in cold plunge (avanto).
Kyle Fredrickson
Kyle is designing and currently building a timber-frame sauna in his backyard in Minneapolis. He left his corporate job of 15 years to pursue his passion for woodworking and designing, and to establish himself in the sauna community. In this conversation, Kyle and Glenn from Sauna Times will discuss the process of building saunas.
Jeff Pyzyk
Jeff, a passionate advocate for the sauna lifestyle, brings his extensive knowledge and enthusiasm to the roundtable discussion. As an avid sauna enthusiast, Jeff is deeply engaged with the online community, regularly contributing to sauna Facebook pages and forums. His insights on the latest trends, tips, and techniques in the world of saunas make him a valuable participant in the conversation.
Kirk Jensen
Present board member and longtime host for 612 Sauna Cooperative. I enjoy introducing newcomers to the gift that is sauna One of my greatest pleasures is sharing in the community and camaraderie that occurs naturally when we are gathered on the bench.

2025 Event Schedule Coming Soon

Weekend Schedule

Friday Evening

Check-in Happy Hour with Local Beer & Cocktails Tasting
Sauna Lovers' Social Hour + Food Available
Sauna Sessions Starting at Noon
Live Music & Bonfires

Saturday

Lake Superior Morning Swim Club
Breakfast Available
All-Day Sauna Sessions
Sauna Talks & Presentations
Local Craft Beer Sampling
Blacksmith Demonstrations
Food Vendors
Live Music & Bonfires

Sunday

Lake Superior Morning Swim Club
Breakfast Available
Sauna Sessions Until Noon

The entire atmosphere was great! Sauna speakers were the highlight of the event and I loved being able to sauna all day in different styles of saunas.