At the second edition of the Gather food and wine festival at JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa in September, prominent chefs— including Giada De Laurentiis, Fabio Trabocchi, Angela Hartnett, and Jonathan Waxman—joined wellness experts to provide a holistic epicurean experience that blends self-care with self-indulgence.

“Our purpose is to connect with the whole you—through what you eat, through the environments that we create for you, to transport you to a place of calm versus a place of chaos,” says David Murphy, JW Marriott’s global vice president of food & beverage design & development.

At Gather, those principles are concentrated and amplified over the course of three days at the seasonal Venice resort located on Isola delle Rose, a park-like island in the lagoon with regular shuttle service to and from Piazza San Marco.

The site of a former respiratory hospital, the 40-acre island with towering trees and soothing water views provides a serene setting for Gather’s new wellness component. Walking or biking around the grounds during the event, you could discover Secret Spaces furnished with hammocks, swings, and cushions encouraging you to pause and reflect.

In addition, JW Marriott partnered with wellness brands Alo, Mala Collective, and tune to create daily activities. At the JW Mindfulness House, you could take part in Alo’s yoga sessions, movement and breathing exercises, and restorative sound baths that immerse you in sounds intended to instill a deep sense of calm.

Meanwhile, Mala Collective created a Crystal Bar within the Mindfulness House, where you could tap into the vibrational energy of natural crystals to further enhance meditation and mindfulness practices.

In another space, you could book a 15-minute session with tune, a bio-tuning company that uses bio-frequencies and neural music to create an optimal state of mind. The tune bed offers seven programs producing different results from energizing to relaxation. As you lie on the bed under a weighted blanket wearing an eye mask and headphones, the bed’s vibrations and music work together to tune body and mind.

But what really draws people to Gather is the unique epicurean experiences. The schedule is jam packed with chef-led cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, presentations on ingredients and mixology, al fresco lunches, cocktail hours, and more.

In the resort’s Sapori Cooking Academy, guests interested in a hands-on experience can brush up on their knife skills and other techniques while preparing a meal with a pro.

Fans of Giada De Laurentiis, host of the Food Network’s Giada at Home, laughed along with her while preparing a three-course lunch that they all enjoyed together afterward. To their delight, De Laurentiis encouraged selfies and signed aprons as mementoes.

“These are not ego-driven personalities, they are people who are hanging out and talking with our guests, really engaging and letting their culinary personalities shine through as well as their personal personalities,” says Murphy, who adds that the chefs are specifically chosen for their enthusiasm and willingness to interact. “We wanted to make sure there was this feeling, that this was a small intimate setting for our guests.”

Each night, the chefs host different themed dinners, such as a casual gourmet pizza night with Jonathan Waxman at the resort’s Presidential Villa. And for the grand finale fete in the property’s stunning church, each participating chef contributes a dish for an over-the-top tasting dinner with seven courses.

For example, the Washington, D.C.-based Italian chef Fabio Trabocchi, who oversees the resort’s Fiola at Dopolavoro Venezia, a Venice outpost of his Michelin-star Fiola in Washington, prepared a local favorite with an extravagant flourish: line-caught bronzino (sea bass) poached in olive oil with Gillardeau Oysters from Normandy cooked in Prosecco zabaglione topped with Calvisius caviar.

“If you want to learn something, you can, if you just want to have fun, you can—it’s really up to our guests to choose which direction they want to take it,” Murphy says of the Gather experience. “It’s also breaking down the barriers of fear that people have around cooking—that it’s so difficult—and making it comfortable. And that’s what JW is about, just making you comfortable in your own space.”

Dates for Gather Venice 2020 have not yet been announced.