The World Culture Festival 2016

Highlights from the World Culture Festival 2016:

A unique platform was created for spiritual and religious leaders, politicians, peacemakers and artists to spread the message of global peace and harmony in diversity. 172 leaders from across the globe attended the event.

By showcasing the rich cultural traditions of dance, music and the arts from around the world as well as Yoga, the Festival fostered a deeper understanding between people of different faiths, nationalities and backgrounds.

Guests speak at the World Culture Festival

“Ancient Indian psychology is advanced and profound. Tibetans, as students of the Nalanda tradition have derived great benefit from it. Therefore, whenever I can, I request all my respected Indian sisters and brothers to pay more attention to your ancient heritage, and combine its values with science and technology to ensure greater benefit. In ahimsa and inter-religious harmony India sets an example to the rest of the world, and I believe The World Culture Festival is taking place in that spirit.”

- Message from His Holiness Dalai Lama

 

“I met with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bogota in June of last year. I had the great joy of speaking with him about the efforts he is making in our country to hopefully very soon end an internal armed conflict that has lasted more than 50 years. Later on, with my consent, he met in Hawana and Cuba with the negotiators of the FARC leaders to encourage them to follow the Gandhian principle of non-violence. Today I want to thank him for this effort.”

- H.E. Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia
 

Read what dignitaries said about the World Culture Festival 2016.

 

Interesting facts about WCF 2016

  • Over 37,000 performed in the World Culture Festival.
  • The Global Leadership Forum, co-hosted by the World Forum of Ethics in Business and The Art of Living Foundation in New Delhi on the 12th and 13th March 2016 brought together senior leaders from business, government, politics, science, NGOs, faith-based organizations, sports, academia and media to reflect on the paradigms of leadership needed to maneuver the world of today.
  • World’s largest stage: WCF witnessed the world’s largest oval shaped stage set up over an area of 7 acres.
  • The lowest step was at 6 ft high and the highest was at 47 ft. There were about 22 steps.
  • Over 1000 people worked on stage and venue development.
  • More than 20,000 international guests attended the event. Sizable contingents from South America, Mongolia, Russia, U.S., Europe, Middle East, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, and Pakistan among others were present.
  • Revival of tribal art forms: WCF saw the revival of some of the tribal art forms from India from states like Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Sikkim among others. 
  • World’s largest Peace meditation: This was the first time in the world that 3.5 million people meditated for world peace on all three days at one physical location. Millions also participated virtually.
  • For the Grand Art of Living Symphony, the tracks were sent out to more than 8000 participants for rehearsals.
  • For the dance performances, each state had been assigned a choreographer. States decided on the dates for rehearsals with all the participants assembled at one place. For example, Gujarat had its final rehearsals on 7 Mar with 2000 people in Ahmedabad. Chhattisgarh practiced the Kathi Dance with the participants assembling in Raipur on 6th, 7th and 8th February. They also did the Happiness Program simultaneously. They traveled together from Raipur.
  • Coordination effort: Participants were sent the tracks and dance steps to practice individually. The state coordinators moved from district to district to monitor the practice sessions.
  • 1700 Bharatnatyam performers were trained by 3 Padma awardees
    • 1700 Kathak dancers choreographed by Kathak maestro, Pandit Birju Maharaj
    • 375 drummers from South Africa
    • More than 1445 Odissi dancers
    • More than 1100 Kuchipudi dancers
    • About 1620 Kathakali and Mohiniattam dancers
    • 1400 Ghoomar dancers from Rajasthan
    • More than 1150 Bhangra dancers to perform
    • Over 1500 Garba dancers from Gujarat
    • Over 1000 singers from West Bengal to perform Rabindra Sangeet
    • About 1050 Naati dancers
    • 1000 Panthi dancers to perform
    • 1008 Dhangari Dhol players
    • Artists from across the world also performed Brazilian Samba, Argentinian Tango, Hip Hop, Rap
    • Bulgarian Folk artists and Swiss Alphorn players adorned the stage
    • Cosmic Rhythm saw about 4,600 artists perform 30 dance forms
    • Some of the international performances include- Contemporary Sufi (From Pakistan), Kandyan dance (Srilanka), Genesis (Taiwan)
  • 375 drummers arrived from South Africa. The drums were shipped in October 2015. They reached Bombay Port and then transported to Delhi.

 

This section contains our response to various World Culture Festival related issues raised in the media.