Yoga enthusiasts practicing their rounds of Sun Salutations for the World Culture Festival being hosted by The Art of Living in
Berlin, June 30, 2011:The Art of Living will celebrate its 30th anniversary on July 2 -3 at Berlin’s historic Olympic stadium - the Olympiastadion.
“Thirty years of The Art of Living: a milestone has been achieved. We are inspired to continue with more enthusiasm and greater speed to realize the dream, where life becomes a celebration and the world will become one family. The World Culture Festival is a celebration of achievements and a vision to do better,” said Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Art of Living founder.
630 dignitaries from India and abroad including the deputy foreign minister of Russia, past Presidents and Prime Ministers, Ministers, Congressmen, several Members of the European Parliament, the German Parliament, ambassadors, business leaders, academicians, NGO representatives, religious and spiritual leaders will attend the festival. Mr. Subodh Kant Sahay, Minister for Tourism, Government of India; Mr. B S Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka, India will be representing India.
The festival, with a theme of ‘Celebrating Diversity and Enriching Life’ will see over 70,000 people from across continents, religions, traditions, backgrounds sit together. Gurudev will lead a meditation for world peace. One of the highlights will be the Grand Guitar Ensemble for Peace - an enchanting symphony of 2,000 guitarists, 30 Grand pianists and 3000 choir singers. Other than the German and the European National Anthems, Vande Mataram will also be sung.
The festival will also have shows featuring classical music from India and America, contemporary music from Malta, Shaolin Monks from China, traditional flutes from Turkey, folk dances from Russia and Bulgaria and a variety of performances by German artistes. Lotus dance from Japan, Aboriginal dance from Canada and Swiss groups, Austrian Alpine Horns will vie for the eyeballs during the two-day jamboree.
Four continent-based pavilions from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe, will showcase the cultural heritage, food, dance, music, poetry and literature from many countries. The stadium will be transformed into Europe’s biggest participative Yoga Park where visitors can experience yoga workshops from different countries and explore the effect of it on physical and mental health and inner peace. A unique Yoga Museum will chart the evolution of Yoga from ancient sages to its global application in the 21st century and also illustrate the societal impact of Yoga in peace building and its application in humanitarian projects around the world.
A record 215 news paper articles have appeared in the German media on this event in the past one month.
More details of the festival at: www.artofliving.org, www.worldculturefestival.org
Webcast on www.artofliving.org: Jul 2nd at 8 pm IST, Jul 3rd at 1.30 pm IST