US: Fourth ‘World Cultural Festival’ to celebrate diverse cultures across globe
Sep 27, 2023
Washington, DC [US], September 28 : World Cultural Festival 2023, a global celebration will be taking place in Washington, DC, showing cultural performances across different countries and providing platforms for artists to showcase their talent.
This is the fourth edition of Art of Living’s World Cultural Festival. The event will be held from September 29 to October 1, at the US Capital at a grand scale. It has been set against the iconic backdrop of the US Capitol, at a huge stage of the size of a football field, according to an official press release.
The event will witness a monumental gathering of 17,000 artists, numerous heads of state, and thought leaders from over 100 countries, all converging at the National Mall. An astounding half a million people are anticipated to participate, making it a global spectacle of unprecedented proportions.
The event will also feature cuisines from around the world. The festival also aims to provide the budding artists and performers a platform to showcase their talents,” the release stated.
On September 29, at the National Mall, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will bridge the divides of borders, religion and race by uniting people from 180 countries under the banner of a ‘One World Family’, the release stated.
“The fourth World Cultural Festival is going to be in Washington, DC. The world is converging here to celebrate life. People of all different cultures, religions, races, genders and age groups will be going to be on one stage, giving the message to the world, that they are one world family. A celebration that no one can miss,” Sri Sri Ravi Shankar stated in a video message.
He added, “It will be a historic event in the National Mall celebrating diversity, celebrating life. Everyone is welcome there...Let’s all celebrate, let’s all work together. It’s an occasion to bring about love and peace to the world”.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, DC has also welcomed people to participate in the fourth World Cultural Festival.
The event will feature over 50 performances from different cultures. Some of the major events are; A traditional Chinese cultural performance with 1,000 singers and dancers, a Garba extravaganza with 7000 dancers, a live symphony with 700 Indian classical dancers, 100 Ukrainian dancers performing their traditional Hopak and a performance by 1000 guitarists led by Grammy Award winner Micki Free.
In addition to this, there will also be a recreation of Bob Marley’s legendary classic ‘One Love’ by his grandson Skip Marley and a 50th-anniversary tribute to Hip-Hop by Kurtis Blow, SHA-Rock, Sequence Girls, DJ Kool and other legends of Hip Hop alongside 100 break dancers debuting choreography by King Charles and Kelli Forman.
“It was at the National Mall that Martin Luther King delivered the famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 to spread the message of equality and unity to the world. A century before that, at the first World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda delivered an electrifying speech that brought everyone in attendance to their feet. He addressed representatives of the world’s major faiths as his brothers and sisters, and called for the end of religious bigotry and intolerance,” the release stated.
The dignitary speakers at the event include External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, former President Ram Nath Kovind, Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations; Dr. Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon General; US Senator Rick Scott, US presidential candidate Nancy Pelosi, among other former and current heads of states and leaders.
