DEEP TRANSFORMATION
Personal growth through presence, deep inquiry, and experiences that create lasting inner change.
AUTHENTIC CONNECTION
Heartfelt relationships built through deep listening, trust, honesty, and shared human experience.
IMMERSIVE PROGRAM
High quality workshops, music, movement, creativity, and co-creative experiences throughout the week.
GLOBAL LIVING COMMUNITY
Join an international network rooted in presence, purpose, and co-creating meaningful change together.
Living Presence Festival 2026
THE LIVING PRESENCE FESTIVAL is a celebration of our human potential, and the beauty, magic, and wonder of being alive, right now!
We are thrilled to welcome you to a festival held in the spirit of Zen Coaching; authentic connection, awakening to the Living Presence that we truly are, deep listening, healing and transformation, relating from the heart, celebrating the beauty of life, and living and acting from Being and Presence in the world.
This is a space for summer enjoyment combined with deep transformational learning, with an impact that will last long after the festival is over. This week, we will sense together, experiment together, and imagine together, grounded in presence, friendship, and lived experience. A nourishing and inspirational week accompanied with a variety of high quality workshops, live music, movement and togetherness.
Ängsbacka has been hosting the Zen Coaching training since its beginning in 2005, and thousands of people have come here to experience the life-transforming power of saying yes to what is. If you’ve spent even a little time at Ängsbacka, chances are you’ve encountered Zen Coaching – woven into the atmosphere, the presence, and the living heartbeat of our walls here…
With this festival, we celebrate the maturing of the Zen Coaching network into an empowered global community of LIVING PRESENCE grounded in a shared vision and purpose: living life as meditation and co-creating the world we wish to live in.
CHECK-IN & CHECK-OUT
Check-in at reception: 15:00 – 18:30
Dinner first night: 18:30 – 19:30
Welcome ceremony: 20:00 in Big Barn
Last meal: 13:00 – 14:00
Check-out*: 15:00
*Clean your room before this time. You don’t need to formally check out at the reception.
What is the Zen Coaching & Living Presence community?
Zen Coaching (Living Presence) is a powerful approach to inner transformation, which can be used both as an inner spiritual practice, a support for conscious living and relating, and as a coaching method. It was started by Kåre Landfald at Ängsbacka in 2005, and has since then grown into a global spiritual community with 900 students, and growing. With this festival, we celebrate the maturing of the Zen Coaching network into an empowered global community of LIVING PRESENCE grounded in a shared vision and purpose: living life as meditation and co-creating the world we wish to live in.
At the heart of the Living Presence practices lies a simple, profound realisation shared by most wisdom traditions each in their own way: that the root cause of most of our suffering is a disconnection from our true nature – and that the solution is to reconnect with this essential self, which is naturally, always and already free, peaceful, compassionate, joyful, intuitive, trusting, and loving. The term Living Presence points at this truth of our own nature: that we are, each of us, more than biology and cultural conditioning, more than thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations – we are a living presence with all these qualities (and more) inherent in our natural self.
Ultimately, we don’t need to look outside ourselves for qualities such as happiness, fulfillment, peace, connection, or love; these are inherent qualities of our essential nature, waiting to be discovered and lived through what we call “relaxing into being” and “the alchemy of the heart”.
The approach of the Living Presence community is to support the recognition of this truth, while also revealing how and when we are relating with life from states such as fear, doubt, or other kinds of resistance. Our greater purpose is to contribute to a world where people are self-connected and relate with others with respect and compassion, and in the spirit of partnership and collaboration for the benefit of all.
Each year, there is a Zen Coaching / Living Presence training with 5 individual modules, in which participants explore how they can live in deeper inner connection, and effectively support others in the same. This festival is a taste of that journey. It is also a celebration of life and of community, of creativity and joy, and of exploring how we can support a world based more on true connection, love and collaboration. The Living Presence environment can be described as a “laboratory of the heart” – a safe space for experimentation where vulnerability is welcomed as a gateway to strength, and where community is seen as essential for anyone who wishes to live a life of deeper inner and outer connection.
What Awaits You at Living Presence 2026?
Come and experience a festival where qualities of connection, curiosity, attunement, and trust invite you to tap into the freedom and celebration of being you—in the deepest and most essential way you can imagine. Explore how it is to find yourself welcome – with all that you are, and then, expect the unexpected.
The week will be filled with:
- Depth and friendship through stillness, deep listening, authentic sharing, transformational workshops and authentic connection
- Creativity and play through creativity workshops, art performances, outdoor play, and spontaneous co-creative activities
- Sweet connection and authenticity through inquiry, coaching practice, sharing, touch, and simply by being together with a shared intention in a beautiful place
- Zest for life and aliveness through dance, live music, open stage, exploring your life purpose and passion, and many inspiring people and events
Beyond personal enjoyment, this is also a week of shared exploration into how we can support each other in being agents of positive change in the world, rooted in the practices of presence that we share.
How can deep listening, openness and inquiry help transform the world? How can what we live and practice gently and meaningfully ripple out into the world, into families, education, healthcare, organizations, culture, and community life?
With this festival we are co-creators of a collective dream that honours the beauty, magic and sacredness of life. WARMLY WELCOME!
Children are warmly welcome at the festival
We offer 3 hours of daily childcare supported by a volunteer. Children are also welcome to join selected workshops together with their parents. There is no separate or designated children’s program.
Join the festival
Journey into living presence and authentic connection, where every moment invites awakening and celebration.
Teachers & Musicians
We are curating a wide and varied festival programme bringing together some of the world’s leading Teachers and Musicians for an extra extraordinary experience for you.
Stay tuned for updates as we announce additional teachers and musicians to elevate your experience.
🌟 Buy your ticket now 🌟
From 7800 SEK
Accommodation choices can influence the price per ticket.
Children between 4 and 17 years old receive a 55% discount.
Children between 0 and 3 years old are free of charge
GLAMPING AT ÄNGSBACKA
Glamping at Ängsbacka gives a unique touch to your festival experience! Take the chance to apply for one of the limited spots in our nature-oriented alternative to indoor accommodation or bringing your own tent.
Our Glamping tents are placed on wooden platfors in one of Ängsbacka's most scenic spots with the forest at your back and overlooking open fields. Each tent comes equipped with a proper 160x200 cm bed, duvets, pillows and other homey details to enhance your experience. We are offering the possibility to charge your phone or similar in the HUB in the festival area, the tent itself does not have electricity or heating installed.
Via the form below you register your interest in booking a Glamping tent, please note that you need to be a minimum of two adults to apply. The tents are designed to comfortably fit two people but it is possible to add one or maximum two mattresses on the floor at an additional cost.
A typical day at an Ängsbacka festival
Our events all have their unique program of workshops and other activities, still there are some fixed points that you can expect at the festival:
- An early morning program is offered - yoga, breathing, meditation etc. - before..
- Breakfast - our first meal of the day.
- A gathering for all with music and togetherness setting the tone of the day is followed by..
- Morning workshops and other activities until..
- Lunch - the main meal of the day.
- Afternoon workshops and activities go on until..
- Dinner - a lighter, still fully nourishing meal.
- An evening program follows; workshops, dance, live music or a cozy hang-out in the café.
Once per day everybody meets in their sharing groups; all of us come together for the core practice of Ängsbacka!
Workshops on the program are described and categorized in such a way that you can find out how advanced or challenging exercises you can expect beforehand.
Accommodation
The basic festival ticket includes a spot in the camping area and you bring your own tent.
All our indoor accommodations come at hostel standard with shared showers and toilets.You will find outdoor toilets in connection to the camping areas and outdoor showers are available to complement the indoor facilities. We advise you to bring earplugs for better sleep if you are sound sensitive as the festival area can get loud at times (the program will end latest 02.00).
UPGRADE YOUR ACCOMMODATION
Depending on availability and your budget we offer the following options for indoor accommodation:
- dormitory (bunk bed)
- 4 bedroom (bunk bed)
- double room (twin bed)
- Single room
Indoor accommodation includes a blanket and pillow for each person. You need to bring your own bed sheets or a sleeping bag and a pillowcase. Towels are not included. We offer a possibility to rent sheets and towels at an additional cost.
CARAVAN OR CAMPER
If you would like to bring your camper or caravan - check availability when booking your ticket. Unfortunately we do not have the capacity to offer electricity for any of these spots.
OFF SITE ACCOMODATION
Sometimes you need more privacy or tranquility or maybe you want to bring your dog (no dogs allowed on site). Booking an off site accommodation can be a good option and many private house/flat owners offer spaces for rent during the summer. Please request the list of people offering off site accommodation by contacting our booking office.
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FOOD AND SERVING
The festival ticket includes all meals; breakfast lunch and dinner are prepared and served daily. Ängsbacka offers a vegetarian diet prepared with love. We use locally produced and organic products to a large extent. In connection with your booking, you can ask for a vegan diet (same as lactose free) or gluten and nut-free food options. For practical reasons, we cannot meet any other wishes related to allergies or diets during festivals. All meals are presented at the outdoor serving tent area.
ALCOHOL-FREE & DRUG-FREE
Ängsbacka has a policy of zero tolerance for illicit drugs and alcohol. We don’t serve alcohol, and it is not allowed to drink or to be under the influence of alcohol or other substances when you are at Ängsbacka. If you are found under the influence, we will ask you to leave immediately.
Please find our other general policies and guidelines here.
Code of ethics
Ängsbacka is continuously developing intentions for offering supportive and transformational spaces - read our Code of Ethics here.
PAYMENTS AND CURRENCY
Remember! We always request you to book and pay your event ticket online before arrival.
Both our café and the reception at Ängbsacka are cash-free, so once at Ängsbacka you will only be able to use card or Swish (Swedish direct payment service) as a payment method at our reception and in the café.
We only accept the currency SEK.
For cash withdrawal, there is a cash point at Coop in Molkom (the nearby village).
ÄNGSBACKA CAFÉ
The Café is a cosy meeting place for hang-out, new friendships and deep conversation. You can buy yummy home-made cakes, a wide range of coffee, teas, golden milk, smoothies, chilled beverages, chocolate, raw food goodies and more!
During the summer our café is a tech-free zone, so the café is not a place for work or gaming on your digital devices. Charging your digital devices can be done in "The Hub".
SAUNA
Our amazing Sauna is open all evenings of the festival. Come relax and enjoy the heat in the company of new and old friends. It is a requirement to bring a towel to sit on in the sauna.
Holy Tree crafts and instrument shop
In the Holy Tree shop you find a unique selection of music instruments such as shamanic drums, flutes, rattles and more.
SIMSALA CHAI
Simsala Chai is beautifully situated a short walk into the forest next to the festival area. Welcome to treat and nourish yourself with a cup of chai in the presence of nature. Here you also find hand crafted music instruments. Come, take a break from the intensity of the festival and let yourself be held by the spirit of the forest.
Healing Circle
The Healing Circle offers personal sessions for bodywork, energy healing, massage, counseling and other forms of therapies/modalities. Make sure to bring your own towel to your session to lay on. You can book and pay (by card) your sessions through the reception, or the Café when the reception is closed, during your stay at Ängsbacka
FESTIVAL GALLERY
Information about workshop leaders and Festival programs for each day can be found in the Festival Gallery outside the barn. The Festival program can be changed with short notice, so please check it often.
Here you also find opening hours for café, shops, reception and more.
THE HUB
In The Hub, the tent next to the Festival Gallery, you can find more information about the amazing work our workshop leaders are doing outside of Ängsbacka.
If you need to charge any of your digital devices you are more then welcome to use our charging stations located in The Hub.
LOST ITEMS
As a visitor at Ängsbacka you are solely responsible for your personal belongings at all times. During the actual event Ängsbacka will support you to retrieve any items lost by setting up, and maintaining specific “Lost & Found”-labelled boxes nearby the workshop-spaces.After each Festival the lost & found boxes will be emptied and all collected items will be stored in our Lost & Found tent for a total of 2 weeks upon completion of the event.
Valuables such as wallets, digital devices, keys and similar are handed in and kept at our booking office for a maximum of 3 months and will be returned upon description. Valuables are the only items that will be sent to you after the event is over and you will be charged for the postage plus an administrative fee of 100 SEK.
Please be aware that Ängsbacka does not take any responsibility for personal belongings - the above is to be considered a service and not a guarantee that you will be able to retrieve lost items whether valuables or others, such as clothing.
ELECTRIC cars
In case you choose to travel to Ängsbacka with an electric car, here are some things you need to know. Since we have a limited power grid we can’t provide charging facilities for electric cars. The closest charging station is in Karlstad (30 kilometres) or Forshaga (25 kilometres). On this website you can find the best one for you https://chargefinder.com/se/
WELCOME LETTER
A welcome letter with more detailed information about the festival will be sent out to all participants.
LANGUAGE
Ängsbacka is an international course and festival center with people from all over the world. The main language spoken during the festivals is English.
Hanne Pedersen
Program Coordinator
Hanne Pedersen is devoted to cultivating living presence – within ourselves, between each other, and in relationship with the world around us. With roots in performance theatre and Creative Somatic Movement, she has worked with Zen Coaching and awareness-based practices since 2008, creating spaces where embodiment, deep listening, and authentic expression can naturally unfold.
At Momoakademiet outside Oslo, Hanne invites people into conscious community and shared practice. She offers events for the local community as well as the HumanKind Programme, an immersive training leading to certification in Zen Coaching.
Her work responds to a deeper calling of our times: to gather, to explore what it means to be human together, and to co-create our lives from a place of connection and awareness.
As Program Coordinator for the Living Presence Festival, Hanne brings her experience in designing, facilitating, and directing creative processes, into co-creating a program that supports relational depth, creative exploration, and a shared sense of belonging.
Website: www.momoakademiet.com
Loló Gómez Ortega
Program Coordinator
Loló Gómez Ortega is the creator of Hands from Above and Body – Gateway to Heart and Spirit, concidering personal development as one of the finest living arts. Her work is rooted in the meeting point between transformation, presence, and skillful touch, with a deep respect for the unique journey and needs of every human being.
For more than 22 years, Loló has been devoted to supporting authentic connection and to gathering people around the world in spaces of mutual growth, healing, and shared humanity. Her path weaves together body-based awareness, relational depth, and inner exploration.
She is certified and trained in Zen Coaching, Family Constellation & Systemic Movements. Bodywork & Massage Therapy, Chinese Reflexology, Reiki, Breathwork, Meditation, Yoga, Qi Gong, Pilates, Bioenergetic Movement & Contact Improvisation.
As Program Coordinator for Living Presence, Loló co guides the creative vision and creation of the festival program. With sensitivity, clarity, and heart, she helps to shape a field that invites deep connection & courageous exploration. A space where every participant becomes part of one living being.
Kåre Landfald
Program Team
Kåre Landfald, Norway, is the creator of the Zen Coaching approach to inner transformation and coaching. He has been offering the Zen Coaching Training annually for more than 20 years, and also established the International Zen Coaching Network which now consists of more than 800 persons from more than 25 countries. He was earlier the co–owner of Ängsbacka and Kärlingesund Retreat Centers. He offers trainings and coaching to individuals and organisations internationally.
Earlier Kåre worked internationally for the United Nations, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other international organisations.
Amongst his main teachers are Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, A.H. Almaas (the Diamond Approach), Marshall B. Rosenberg (Non-violent Communication), and Svagito Liebermeister (Family Constellations).
Website: www.zen-coaching.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com@zen_coaching
Robin Wallin
Program Team
Robin is working as the Global Coordinator for the Living Presence Community. His passion for awakening, conscious living, and community all come together in this role.
He is not deeply monogamous with any specific wisdom tradition, but rather, like many others, have come from a wide variety of spiritual practices from different cultures. At the heart of his practice and life path lies meditation. This inner journey has over the past 15 years brought him to the realisation that waking up to our inner light and calling is of greatest importance – individually and globally. Today he finds great joy in sharing his experience and learnings through coaching and group facilitation, in the spirit of Zen Coaching.
As a Program Team member, Robin brings both 7 years of being part of the management team of Ängsbacka, with special responsibility for the Volunteer program, as well as 7 years of engagement in the Living Presence Community. He hopes that his knowledge and insight into both of these organisations will bring clarity, structure, refinement, and competence to both the creative process and the festival experience itself.