Berlin, July 2: The celebrations at the World Culture Festival are in full swing at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. An enthusiastic response is building as attendees take their seats during the beginning of the festivities. Jameelah Carver, an Art of Living teacher from the United States says she is attending the event “because so many people who want peace are here from all around the world.”
Throughout each of the World Pavilions surrounding the Olympiastadion, attendees are finding a wide array of food, music and dance performances. At the Europa Pavilion, the International Laugh Corporation is performing a comedy show. In another performance, a traditional dance of Azerbaijan takes place called “The Bride of Fire,” part of Zoroastrianism for hundreds of years.
In the Africa Pavilion, participants witness singers chanting “Om Bhur Bhavath Swaha” to the beat of African rhythms. A stall being run by Zahia Ocnelle and Emaan Maygre from Tunisia sells artisan-made items to promote Tunisian culture. Some of the products are drums, bags, wooden utensils, decoration items, and handmade soaps. Zahia shares her reason for attending the World Culture Festival. “People must learn to live together. Muslims, Christians… we are all people. People must learn to be tolerant. Live and let live.”
Thousands are expected to attend the World Culture Festival, being held July 2nd and 3rd, 2011. The festival celebrates 30 years of The Art of Living. The event will feature music and dance performances from around the world, a theme park based on yoga, a global marketplace, and the International Women’s Conference. A World Pavilions showcase encircles the stadium, providing food, music and dance performances and activities from each country. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will lead the World Meditation for Peace on July 2nd, 2011.
For more information, visit www.worldculturefestival.org
