Summer days are advancing and it is about time to mark interesting dates on the autumn calendar. Especially these two: 24 and 25 October, because that weekend WeLife Festival 2026 returns to the Royal Theatre in Retiro, Madrid. Two intensive days with talks, panel discussions, workshops and experiences with leading experts in the fields of longevity, menopause, physical activity, nutrition and personal wellbeing.
After bringing together nearly a thousand people in its fifth edition last year, in 2026 we raise the bar: to lead during those two days the conversation about how to take care of ourselves to feel better and face our personal growth. For that, we boast the most ambitious lineup to date, with prominent personalities who gather more than 16 million followers on social media.
We will, as usual, feature three well-differentiated spaces. Our grand auditorium, The Expert Room, will be the stage where the main talks and panel discussions take place. Those who want to take a moment of disconnect or learn about the latest trends in yoga, meditation or conscious breathing can do so in The Mind & Body Studio. And the meeting point for everyone, The Partners Lounge, with stands, brand activations and incredible giveaways for all attendees.
Prevention Is Better
If there is one thing on which there is total consensus among the scientific community for achieving a healthy longevity it is that it is better to reinforce those small, constant, daily steps than to chase the biohacking that millionaire Brian Johnson is so fond of. And we are not talking about the mythical 10,000 steps, but about what we call a healthy lifestyle and which, as the name implies, helps us age with health.
In other words: prevention.
And a healthy prevention to give life to our years will be discussed by some of our guests. Marta Marcé, a nutritionist specialized in menopause, will tell us what and how to eat when crossing the menopause Rubicon. How to prepare for that stage will also be discussed by the gynecologist Marimer Pérez, aware that this phase of a woman’s life still arrives wrapped in myths and misconceptions.
Physical activity will also play a relevant role. And not only to look good, but to keep it strong to enjoy the many years ahead. And in that field we will rely on the experience of Antonio Pérez. Because the message is not to train to be Olympic champions, but to be able to lift our grandchildren in our arms without back pain. The CSIC neuroscientist José Luis Trejo sums it up in one sentence: “Not only should you do physical exercise. You must minimize the time you spend sitting” and he insists on the increasingly accepted idea that an hour in the gym does not compensate for eight hours sitting at a desk. Xevi Verdaguer, PNIE, nutritionist and physiotherapist, highlights the connections between nutrition, physical activity and immunity, three pillars for good longevity.
Going to the Doctor While Healthy
Preventing and ensuring a strong body does not mean there is no need to check it periodically. Does it mean that if we are healthy we must keep going to the doctor? The cardiologist Aurelio Rojas highlights the importance of periodic checks of our cardiovascular health. “If you were my patient and wanted to know how your heart ages, I would not start by looking at cholesterol. I would look at other markers. Starting with APOB, it tells me how many particles capable of sticking inside your arteries are circulating in your blood; the genetic lipoprotein A, which raises the risk of stroke and heart attack; glucose and glycated hemoglobin; triglycerides, which if high make me think of visceral fat or insulin resistance…”, he states on his social networks.
Because taking care also means going to the doctor to confirm you are still well. The second step is to make sure we are on the right path, that path you walk… and the one you walk by lifting weights in the gym. At WeLife Festival 2026 we know that our future is not written on an indelible parchment, but on that little page we fill every day by choosing what we eat, how much we move and how many hours we steal from sleep. And to that know-how they know a lot José Manuel Soria, Dr. Beatriz Crespo and longevity researcher, Manel Esteller. Three experts who will discuss genetics, epigenetics and those small decisions that help us stretch youth.
The Path Is Made by Walking
Antonio Machado described with poetry what healthy longevity with purpose is, saying that ‘the path is made by walking’. Cristóbal Amo Martín, an expert in wellbeing, health, energy and mind, will open Saturday’s program focusing on something rarely considered: you must have a goal in life. “A prosperous future is not someone who already has millions. It is someone who does not resign themselves, who does not identify with their current situation and who does not believe their difficult moment,” he says.
And what about bad days? They will come, and with intensity. The athlete Cisco García knows a lot about that. After a serious snowboard accident that left him in a wheelchair, he has continued training (he swapped the board for tennis) and enjoyed the things he loves in life. “When I was injured I suffered because I believed that an intense life was not possible in a wheelchair. I loved traveling and I thought it was over. But I was wrong,” he says. His talk at WeLife Festival 2026 will address how to reframe life “when giving up is not an option.”
About when to take on challenges and when to stand down will be discussed by psychologist Lorena Gascón, known for not pulling punches when addressing daily emotional conflicts. It’s enough to name the titles of her latest books ‘How to Survive Life’s Crap’ and ‘Stop Treating Yourself Like Crap’. She helps without sugarcoating and in a language clearer than water. An essential appointment.
Let’s Talk About Menopause
A few weeks ago Spaniards lived through an exceptional moment with the solar eclipse. For centuries our ancestors experienced it as if hell were collapsing on them. Today we see it with a mini-fridge stocked with soft drinks, some snacks and the glasses that ran out of stock. In a not-so-distant future menopause will reach something like that, and largely it is thanks to those women who do not shy away from talking about symptoms, hormone therapy and changing bodies.
Many are well known on social networks. The pharmacist Marta Masi, the derm-surgeon Natividad Cano and the presenter Minerva Piquero will be like Drew Barrymore or Naomi Watts, but from here, very much ours. That new generation of women ready to change the rules of aging and menopause. Because menopause, like eclipses, is not the end of the world. And it can even be entertaining if we incorporate sex toys, as always adds our favorite pelvic floor physiotherapist, Lola Ibáñez, who, hand in hand with Intimina, will again bring smiles talking about ‘pleasure’ and ‘how to train what’s down there’.
A Little About Microbiota
Undoubtedly, microbiota is one of the decade’s buzzwords. We have learned that those friendly bacteria help us stay healthy and that it is up to us to take care of them by eating those probiotics they like and keeping stress at bay. Sara Martín is an expert and will resolve many of those doubts.
Are you not sure how to manage in the kitchen to build a healthy diet? At Futurlife21 they know a lot about biochemistry, functional nutrition and how to bring all that to the plate without failing. Grab paper and pencil (or your smartphone notes) because they will give us a lot of tips and guidelines to approach that healthy, sustainable… and appetizing diet.
Silence, We Are Breathing
You may need a break after reading the outline of talks, an oasis of calm to rest all those ideas. At WeLife Festival 2026 that space is The Mind & Body Studio, a place of stillness with workshops to reconnect with your true self. The one that, thanks to the notorious cortisol, we do not usually pay much attention to.
Attendees will have the chance to participate in workshops led by Mer de la Rosa, Andrea Klimowitz, Lola Ibáñez, Eve Puertolas, Andrea Fresneda, Belén Colomina, Paula Butragueño and Almu Morell. With options for all tastes. From the calmer ones, with yoga, meditation, conscious breathing, to the more dynamic ones for those who want to know how to train strength, that lever of longevity that is gaining more and more weight in gyms.
They Will Be There, What About You?
WeLife Festival 2026 is sponsored by the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, Cupper, El Granero Integral, Intimina, Petit Bambou and Malta Tourism. And in collaboration with Alma Secret, Macami Biotech and Suprey.
Tickets are already on sale at welifefestival.es and until September 13 you will enjoy a 15% discount. In addition, the first 700 purchases of Customized Entrance (with classes and/or lectures) will receive a wonderful Goodie Bag full of gifts.
Are you really going to miss it?
