The Heart of Play Full Hearts

Since 2013, we, Daniel and Carmen, have created Play Full Hearts festivals and gatherings where music, workshops and community come together. For many years, we also had a gathering place called Gaia Center, where we hosted many Play Full Hearts events.

There are many beautiful festivals in the world, each with their own atmosphere, music and workshops. So what makes Play Full Hearts special?

Over the years, we discovered that one simple thing can change the whole experience. Most of us arrive at a festival carrying a little uncertainty:
Will I fit in?
Will I find someone to talk to?
Will I feel at home here?
Am I too much, too little, too normal, too weird?

At Play Full Hearts, we don't believe there is anything wrong with that. We simply see it as part of being human.

That is why we created what we call Heart Meetings.

Throughout the festival, we spread out small Heart Meetings for anyone who feels called to join. Everyone is invited, but nobody is forced to participate. You are also very welcome to simply watch.

A Heart Meeting is a simple way of helping people meet beyond first impressions and everyday roles. Again and again, we have experienced how these small moments build bridges between hearts and create an atmosphere where people feel more relaxed, more welcome and more like themselves.

Most people carry a long "list" of things they would like to improve about themselves. Things they wish they were better at, more free from, or more at peace with. Many personal development environments naturally speak to that "list".

At Play Full Hearts, we are speaking to another "list".

We are speaking to the "list" of greatness already living inside you.

That is why we are not so interested in who you might become one day. We are interested in meeting the beauty, joy and value that already live in you right now. We have seen again and again that when people are met in that way, something shifts.

The workshops we choose, the music we invite and the atmosphere we create all grow from that same intention: to help people see the best in one another, and often, through that, discover a little more of the best in themselves.

We are Daniel and Carmen Faunbäck, partners in life and very much in love.

For many years, we have created spaces where people can experience connection with themselves, with each other and with something bigger than everyday life. We are also the founders of Faunbäck Retreat in the forests of Skåne.

There are three Faunbäcks in the world. The third Faunbäck is our son, Baltazar.

He is now 23 years old and grew up in the Play Full Hearts community. One of the things closest to our hearts has always been creating spaces where different generations can meet each other naturally and with curiosity.

At the Play Full Hearts Festival 2026, the setting is smaller than in earlier years, and that means we cannot welcome as many children as we once did. Even so, creating a space where younger and older generations can share music, conversations and meaningful moments is still deeply important to us.

Some of our most treasured memories are of people who had never met before sharing a simple Heart Meeting and carrying that special connection with them throughout the festival.

We believe in connection: connection with ourselves, with each other and with something bigger than everyday life. Whether you call that bigger connection magic, life energy, source, divine love, joy or God is entirely up to you.