World Culture Festival Brings Record Crowds to Int’l Performances on National Mall

A historic three-day gathering brought unprecedented crowds to the National Mall last weekend as the Art of Living Foundation’s World Culture Festival brought hundreds of thousands to experience a weekend of wellness, culture, and performance.

Individuals representing over 180 countries participated in festivities, including magic of mystical legends and folklore in Arabian Nights; grandeur and pageantry in an Indian Classical dance; unique Swiss Alphorns; Pershing’s Own, along with 260 high school students, performing the U.S. national anthem; African and Bollywood fusion dancing; and Skip Marley’s tribute to love and his legendary grandfather, Bob Marley, in One Love.

Art of Living founder Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar welcomed to the stage global dignitaries, including 8th General Secretary of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon; U.S. Senator Rick Scott, U.S. Representative Danny K. Davis, U.S. Representative Neil Dunn; D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser; Minister of External Affairs of India, Dr. S. Jaishankar; Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo; Former Prime Minister of Slovenia, Mr. Alosjz Peterie; Former Vice President of the European Parliament, Ryzsard Czarnecki; Former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Science and Technology of Japan, Hakubun Shimomura; and Former UN Deputy Secretary General and Executive Director, UNEP & Former Minister of International Development of Norway, Erik Solheim.

Operating in 180 countries, The Art of Living Foundation is a non-profit, educational, and humanitarian organization founded in 1981 by Shankar and inspired by his philosophy of creating world peace through a stress-free and violence-free society.