Summer Flow Fest 2026: Dhaka comes together to move, create, connect and heal

Dhaka does not slow down often. This weekend, on August 21 and 22, it did, on purpose. The Flow Fest (TFF) closed out its Summer Flow Fest, powered by Prime Bank, at Gulshan Shooting Club, where Dhaka Jungle brought the outdoors in and turned a hall room into its own kind of forest. Hundreds of people moved through two days built around five simple ideas: movement, mindfulness, creativity, connection and wisdom.

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The weekend began on Friday morning with the Rave Run, a 7.5-kilometre run around Hatirjheel powered by Jeep, which set the tone for two days about showing up, for yourself and for each other. From there, the days unfolded through sound healing, yoga led by Shazzy Om and Mai, a session with Irons Fencing Club, and a full slate of honest conversations under TFF's Shareapy panel series. In between sessions, the Flow Market gave the community a place to browse and connect with local wellness brands.

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Those conversations turned out to be some of the most talked about parts of the weekend. At the Shareapy Men's Table, moderated by Nashid Ali, panellist Rashed Ahmed talked about the small habits that shape everything else.

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“If you're not punctual in one place, you're not punctual anywhere,” he said, encouraging the room to take failure, learn from it, and let the people around them accept that about them too.

Moderator Nashid Ali closed the session with a message that stayed with the room:

“Never close doors. Cry if you need to, and share.”

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The festival also made room for a harder conversation. The Inclusive Wellness: Rohingya Response panel, moderated by Ashik Kabir, Sector Coordinator for the Rohingya Refugee Response, brought together voices from UNHCR, ActionAid Bangladesh, AMAN, EBL and the Rohingya community to talk about restoring dignity and building pathways forward, a reminder that wellness has to include everyone or it isn't wellness at all.

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Panellist Tanzeri Hoque of EBL spoke about the women and children at the centre of the response, and closed with a line that stayed with the room.

“Hope is a good thing. Probably the best thing. And it never dies.”

As the sun went down, the energy shifted into movement and expression, with Havana Salsa on the dance floor, Project Dhk Creative Open Mic, and Taboo: Poetry Slam by Local Authors giving Dhaka's writers a stage to share work that was as vulnerable as it was electric.

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The weekend was made possible with support from partners across health, mobility and everyday life. Summer Flow Fest was powered by Prime Bank, with the Rave Run powered by Jeep, and additional support from United Healthcare, Shwapno and Savoy, who kept the community cool with free ice cream all weekend long.