THE next chapter for the David Jones building in Newcastle will be more spiritual than commercial.
Later this month the abandoned building will host the Bodhi Festival for three days from February 24.
Each floor of the former department store will host yoga and meditation classes, 70 stallholders, musicians and spiritual healers from around the world.
‘‘The fact that we are turning the space into a spiritual department store is not lost on us,’’ Sydney yoga teacher Erik Denison joked yesterday.
Mr Denison works for Shanti Mission – a co-organiser of the festival and one of the first spiritual schools to participate in the Newcastle Now initiative – which aims to create a health, wellness and arts district in the CBD.
The associated group known as The Peace Angels, who dress in angel costumes and carry white lanterns, will help launch the festival with a walk down Hunter Street from 11am on Tuesday.
Window displays of angels and Bodhi trees will be put in the empty David Jones store the same day.
David Jones ended its lease in Hunter Street Mall last January.
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