Location
This was the first time the Baha'i Community participated in the Festival as an exhibitor. Our intention was to provide information about the Baha'i Faith in general—it's world-wide activities, and its local efforts, as well as the history of the Faith in Indiana and its relationship to other faiths.
Although it was our first time and a number of community members were not well acquainted with the Center for Interfaith Cooperation or the Festival, 20 Baha'is helped with the booth in a number of ways. We were very happy for that.
We feel that we were successful in that an approximate estimate of visitors to our booth is somewhere between 75 and 100 persons of all ages, races, and other faiths. Congenial conversations occurred and literature of several types were taken. We purposefully walked among the crowd and offered a colorful sticker which stated “No Room in My Heart for Prejudice.” In small print 'courtesy of the Baha' Faith' was also there. Almost everyone wanted a sticker—demonstrating that the end of prejudice is very desirable by a large percentage of the population. This is of course a subjective interpretation. But it caused people to visit our booth and want to know what is the Baha'i Faith; who is sponsoring this sticker.
We liked the general spirit of friendliness and openness among the participants at the festival. We liked the variety of booths and the variety of activities offered. Ideas are already afloat for greater participation by the Baha'i Community next year.
Next year's festival date, October 15, will be a week before a bi-centennial observation of the Birth of Bahá'u'lláh, (1817) the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith. This will be a major under-taking by our community to prepare a city-wide opportunity not only to celebrate with us, but to become informed of the history of the Faith. It may deter us from participating in the Festival as fully as we would like.
We thank the CIC for all its attention to detail and its enthusiasm in hosting this event for the city. The participation we witnessed certainly indicates a vibrant spirit of interfaith respect and joint fellowship.
Loree Gross