BREATHE WITH ME | A Wellness Sanctuary at a Music Festival

BIG: Arts + Culture Festival, Gainsville (Florida) | 11 + 12 April 2025

HOW A SENSORY SANCTUARY IS REIMAGINING CULTURE THROUGH STILLNESS AND TACTILITY 
At this year’s BIG: Culture & Arts Festival in downtown Gainesville, Florida, the pulse of creativity finds its counterbalance in the breath of calm. Amid fire breathers, DJs, fashion shows, and skate jams, one space offers a different tempo: Annabelle Schneider’s Breathe with Me, a multi-sensory installation transformed into a sanctuary of stillness—housing massages, acupuncture, yoga, and art therapy.

Curated by New York–based Swiss experience designer Annabelle Schneider, and nestled within the heart of the action, Breathe with Me doesn’t compete with the noise—it offers an antidote to it. A soft, cocoon-like environment constructed from white, inflatable textiles expands and contracts like a living organism, synchronized with breathing rhythms and ambient frequencies. It’s not just installation art; it’s a living, breathing space for rest and reconnection.

Dates: 11. + 12. April, 2025
Hours: 2:00 pm - 1:00 am
Address: Downtown Gainsville, Florida

WHY IT MATTERS

BIG, produced by curator Laila Fakhoury, is more than a festival—it’s a cultural movement redefining what community-centered arts programming looks like in Florida. In a landscape often dominated by overstimulation, the introduction of a wellness program inside a high-energy cultural festival is a radical gesture of care.

Laila, who draws from her lifelong commitment to building collective spaces, describes BIG as “experiential cultural theater.” Everything is intentional—from circus parades to indie music—but the addition of Breathe with Me marks a turning point. It demonstrates that stillness is part of the spectacle; rest is not separate from celebration—it is the heartbeat that sustains it.

This matters because cultural events are too often geared solely toward stimulation. The integration of massage, acupuncture, and mindfulness workshops into a main program speaks to a growing desire to honor the body’s need for pause in an otherwise hyper-accelerated world. It allows attendees not just to observe or consume culture, but to heal through it.

FROM FESTIVAL FEATURE TO CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Schneider’s installation is already gaining traction internationally, with past editions featured in New York, Barcelona, and Uzbekistan. But BIG introduces a new layer: it situates Breathe with Me within a deeply local and community-driven context. Here, the project becomes a tool for belonging, not just for art world insiders, but for everyone—especially those often left out of wellness conversations.

This collaboration signals future potential: Could Breathe with Me evolve into a traveling sanctuary for cultural festivals worldwide? A soft, mobile architecture that brings grounding wherever cultural intensity peaks. With adaptable programs—reiki, storytelling, sound healing, or quiet reflection—the format offers endless possibilities for future iterations.

A RADICAL ACT OF SOFTENESS

In a time where visibility, speed, and performativity often define success, Schneider and Fakhoury offer something rare: a space to slow down together. Their collaboration is a case study in how design and community organizing can merge to serve the public good—not through spectacle alone, but through intentional softness.

As Laila said in a recent interview, “If Big can help people find a new place where they can retreat at least once a year, then we’ve done our job.” With Breathe with Me, that promise isn’t just poetic—it’s embodied.

BIG: Culture & Arts Festival ran from 11-12 April, 2025 in downtown Gainesville. Breathe with Me was open throughout the weekend with scheduled wellness programming. Learn more: bigcaf.com

Date: 11. + 12. April 2025 for BIG: Arts + Culture Festival, Florida
Location: 602 S Main St, Downtown Gainsville, Florida
Category: Immersive Experience at a Music Festival
Comissioned for: BIG: Arts + Culture Festival
Concept, Design + Imagery: Annabelle Schneider
Wellness Program curated by: Shane Mc Nutt
Soft Cushions: Cordaroys - a local company that makes convertible bean bags / beds and other cushions.
Press: BIG, woo.media, Alachua County, Visit Gainsville, Gainsville Sun Events, Ocala, The independent Florida Aligator, Florida Univercity, Dion Dia Records, Mainstreet Daily News, Headfield