About Buddhist Festival Month

Buddhist Festival Month aims to bring together the whole Buddhist community in a month of celebrations of the Buddha’s life.

With a keen interest in both the spiritual practice and the way of life of the Buddha, there is expected to be a large amount of interest in BFM which will be spearheaded by the Free Community Expo and MITRA Conference at the Sydney Masonic Centre.

Other events will be promoted throughout Buddhist Festival Month by individual communities and practice groups.

The month of May

There are many religious festivals throughout the year, such as Easter, Christmas, Passover and Ramadan. For the Buddhist community, the month of May represents a time when Buddhists celebrate Vesak or the Buddha’s birth. In other words, Buddhists of all traditions and cultures agree May is a time to celebrate the life of the Buddha and his teachings. Because Buddhism in Australia has much cultural diversity, the month of May is an excellent time for the Australian Buddhist community to come together and celebrate commonalities.

Our Vision

The main idea behind Buddhist Festival Month is to bring the Buddhist community together to collaborate in a wide variety of events and celebrations. At the same time, working together can provide an opportunity for anyone who is curious about Buddhism to find out more about the Buddha and his teachings. Buddhist Festival Month brings the Buddhist community together and tries to make teachings more accessible to the whole community.

Buddhist Festival Month – May 2010 is a month-long celebration of the Buddha’s life and teachings, not only with Vesak and Buddha’s birth celebrations, but also open days and special events organised by the Buddhist community. We are aiming for the widest range of Buddhist community celebrations Australia has ever seen.  The Buddhist community is excited about the opportunity to open its doors to the whole community of Australia over this month-long festive period.

Organisation

To ensure the success of this momentous initiative, we are working hard amongst the Buddhist community as a whole and engaging professionals from a range of industries.

This includes:

Ø  Professional support from experts in event management, marketing, graphic design and website development.

Ø  All Buddhist groups and temples invited to participate and contribute

Ø  A high-quality website to drive ticket sales and provide event information

Ø  A premium venue for the MITRA Conference, Buddhism Expo and Schools Day (Sydney Masonic Centre Goulburn Street near World Square)

Ø  More than 100 volunteers involved in preparations

Ø  A comprehensive marketing and promotion strategy through posters and postcards distributed throughout the community during February, March and April

Ø  Media engagement through community and ethnic newspapers and radio

Ø  Funding sources include MITRA Conference and Film Festival ticket sales, plus donations and sponsorships