Yearning for Sun, New Yorkers Soak Up the Sauna
03/28/26
After a stretch of cold weather, the Culture of Bathe-ing Festival's waterfront gathering brought out the swimsuits and a different kind of chill.
Culture of Bathing Mission
Bathhouses are opening. Saunas are filling up. Cold plunges have their own TikTok. A growing movement is reimagining how we bathe, together. Culture of Bathe-ing is Therme Group's platform chronicling and shaping it.
Substack
Latest Dispatch
Our Substack is where we go deeper on bathing culture—research, rituals, and the people shaping how we gather around heat, water, and rest.
Sweat, steam and serotonin – can sauna rituals rewire mental health?
Studies have focused on sauna’s benefits for the body, but what about the mind? Sierra Blake, Bill Gifford and Gabrielle Reason share their expertise.
With new research focusing on sauna’s uplift to mental health, we quizzed three experts: Psychotherapist and Saint.
FIND YOUR SAUNA VIBE
Our Favorite NYC Bathhouses
Bathing is older than cities, and New York has its own version. These are some of our favorite places in NYC to gather, sweat, and connect, curated by Robert Hammond, Therme Group US President.
King SpaPalisades Park, NJSoJo Spa ClubEdgewater, NJAire Ancient BathsUpper East SideSpa CastleCollege Point, QueensElahniNoMad, ManhattanBathhouseFlatiron, ManhattanOthershipFlatiron, ManhattanThe AltarFlatiron, ManhattanAkariGreenpoint, BrooklynOthershipWilliamsburg, BrooklynBathhouseWilliamsburg, BrooklynAkariWilliamsburg, BrooklynLoreNoHo, ManhattanRussian & Turkish BathsEast VillageCulture of Bathe-ingWilliamsburg, BrooklynRemedy PlaceFlatiron, ManhattanAire Ancient BathsTribeca, ManhattanBody by BrooklynClinton Hill, BrooklynWall Street BathsFinancial DistrictBath Club of NYGravesend, BrooklynBrooklyn BanyaKensington, BrooklynBrooklyn BathhouseFlatbush, BrooklyncityWellGowanus, BrooklynMermaid SpaConey Island, BrooklynWorld SpaMidwood, BrooklynRecoverieDUMBO, BrooklynQC NYGovernors IslandVictor Jeffreys IIArtist
Illustration by Victor Jefferies II
Featured Press
Culture of Bathe-ing is America’s Largest Sauna Festival
02/25/26
Fox5’s Christal Young live from Culture of Bathe-ing in Domino Park.
Bathhouses, Saunas, and the New Culture of Bathing
02/07/25
During the Roman Empire, bathhouses were more than a clean place to rinse off the grime from the grind; they were central to daily life. Bathhouses featured a sequence of rooms ranging from cold to warm to intensely hot, designed not just for bathing but for conversation, connection, and even the exchange of gossip and the gospel.
Confessions of a newly-converted ‘social bather’
01/30/25
On a particularly dreary weekend in New York in the fall of 2023, a friend and I were brainstorming activities. We were new friends at this point: we’d been to parties and group dinners together but hadn’t yet made it to one-on-one hang-outs or going to each other’s apartments. I stumbled upon a TikTok video of a group of girls wearing pink sets for a “spa day” at The Spa Club in Koreatown and sent it to her.
Inside New York City’s brand-new ‘bathing festival’ with 15 specialized saunas, cold plunges and towel twirling
02/12/26
Bundle up, then strip down — it’s about to get hot. The largest sauna village ever staged in the US has taken over the Williamsburg waterfront, and you can get in on the sweaty, steamy, communal fun.
Wallpaper* wants to know: why are there suddenly so many bathing clubs in New York?
02/27/26
Schvitzes and banyas have been part of Gotham's cultural fabric for more than a century. But a never-ending new crop of experience-focused saunas and wellness spaces promises something else
Putting on the Svitz
02/26/26
This harsh winter, some New Yorkers found refuge at Sauna Fest in Domino Park in Brooklyn, with curated sweat sessions led by towel-swinging sauna masters.
The Smoking Hot Return of Bathing Culture
08/27/25
Saunas and other water-based amenities are booming in societies that once turned their back on them.
Robert Hammond, President & Chief Strategy Officer, Therme Group US
04/22/25
Today, I’m joined by Robert Hammond, president & CSO of Therme Group US. After co-founding New York’s High Line, Robert is now helping Therme bring thermal bathing to America through large-scale wellness destinations. In this episode, we discuss reimagining social bathing culture across US urban centers.
How Social Can Sauna Culture Get? This Steamy Festival Tested the Limits
02/27/26
Culture of Bathe-ing’s first event, in Brooklyn, brought in DJs, poetry readings, and performance art to shift how we collectively sweat it out.
The Benefits of Bathing Culture with Robert Hammond
02/28/25
From saunas and jimjilbang to hammams and temazcales, bathing rituals exist in almost every culture around the world—but they’re still not a regular part of many people’s lives. Robert Hammond, the co-founder of New York City’s High Line and president of Therme Group US, wants to change that.
Poster Gallery
Artists Interpret the Culture of Bathe-ing
What is the Culture of Bathe-ing? We asked 100+ artists, designers, and bathhouse operators the same question.
They answered by designing us 100+ posters.