The World Cultural Festival (WCF) is a global event series organized by the Art of Living Foundation.
The inaugural edition was held in 2006 to mark the foundation's 25th anniversary. The festival expanded internationally with editions in Berlin (2011), New Delhi (2016), and Washington, D.C. (2023).
The Art of Living Foundation documents the first edition of the festival as 2006 in Bangalore.
The Art of Living Foundation commemorated its 30th anniversary with the second World Culture Festival that took place from July 2âÂÂ3, 2011, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany. This version of the event aimed to promote global peace and intercultural dialogue through music, dance, and meditation.
The festival hosted participants and performers from over 151 countries with a turnout of 70,000 people. The event was attended by 804 dignitaries, including ministers, members of parliament, and ambassadors. Notable attendees included Prof. Ruud Lubbers (Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands), Nitin Gadkari (President of the Bharatiya Janata Party), and Subodh Kant Sahay (Minister for Tourism, India). Additional international representation included Sheikh Fahad of Kuwait, Abul Kalam Azad (Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs, Bangladesh), and Ayoob Kara (Deputy Minister for Development, Israel). Congratulatory messages were sent by global figures, including Nancy Pelosi, The President of India, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The proceedings commenced with Vedic chants followed by the German national anthem and the European anthem, "Ode to Joy." Despite the rain during the event, the program continued. During his speech, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke in both German and English, telling the crowd that "it is time that walls come down between cultures. 800 experts performed synchronised yogasanas and surya namaskars led by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
In 2016, the festival was held on the Yamuna floodplains in New Delhi from 11 to 13 March.
It was organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to celebrate the Art of Living Foundation's 35 years in service. Attendance was estimated at around 3.5 million people in audience and 37,000 artists over 3 days. The performances were held on a 100 feet tall by 1,200 feet wide stage with an area of seven acres. Around 1,700 officials were deployed for traffic management, during the festival, and around 300 were on standby for the other events (specifically marriages) to be held during the festival.
In 2016, the festival was chaired by Justice RC Lahoti. Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali from United Nations was also listed as a co-chair for the event but he died prior to the event. Some other committee members included former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers; Nancy Pelosi, Katherine Clark and Ed Witfield from United States Congress; and former Lithuanian president Vytautas Landsbergis.
Following the 2016 edition, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull invited Art of Living Foundation to Australia for the next World Culture Festival.
In March 2023, the Art Of Living Foundation announced their next WFC event to be held in Washington, DC from 29 September to 1 October 2023.
By September 29, 2023, more than 600,000 people registered to attend at least one day of the event. WFC 2023 featured 17,000 performers from more than 100 countries.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser opened the festival and emphasized the festivalâÂÂs goals of coming together to celebrate diversity and unity.
The event hosted global leaders and performers representing various cultures.
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, addressed the assembly, stating that culture facilitates global unity by fostering dialogue and mutual understanding. While noting progress in science and technology, he emphasized that cultural, spiritual, and moral cooperation is necessary for conflict resolution and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also delivered a speech, remarking that it was heartwarming to see the panorama of global cultures on display. He noted that the gathering served to express friendship, strengthen solidarity, and promote peace and understanding. He further observed that humanity is a truly diverse group, an identity expressed through its various cultures, traditions, and heritage.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar shared the spiritual objective of the gathering, telling the crowds that the purpose of all sound is to create inner silence, which he described as the source of creativity and the foundation of love and compassion. He expressed a vision for a world defined by celebration, compassion, and togetherness.
Other notable figures who attended the 2023 edition include Jaime Aparicio, the former Bolivian Ambassador to the United States , former Slovenian Prime Minister Alojz Peterle, former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki, former Surgeon General of the United States Vivek Murthy, President of Mauritius Prithvirajsing Roopun, Ryzsard Czarnecki, former President of India Ramnath Kovind, and Tim Draper.
The festival's centerpiece was an array of artistic performances, featuring local art troupes and professional artists showcasing dance, vocal performances, musical instrument recitals, martial arts, and acrobatics.
Artistic showcases represented a broad spectrum of global traditions, including Chinese dancers and dragons, an Indian Garba folk dance, and a 50th-anniversary tribute to Hip-Hop featuring Kurtis Blow, SHA-Rock, the Sequence Girls, and DJ Kool. The program also featured Indian classical dance accompanied by a live symphony, a Ukrainian Hopak, and Bulgarian folklore groups. Meanwhile, a group of Swiss alphorn players traveled to perform in their second World Culture Festival, joining other musical highlights such as a guitar ensemble led by Micki Free.
The event concluded with Skip Marley, grandson of Bob Marley, who performed "" as a tribute to the festival's message of global unity.
The festival was criticized in the Indian news media for environmental reasons. The foundation was involved in a legal battle with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which allowed the festival to be held after paying a security deposit of in order to compensate for any possible damage. The Art of Living Foundation questioned the findings by the tribunal and has since then submitted a plea in the Supreme Court of India. Eventually it was found that the entire area where the event took place was successfully cleared without any damage and handed over to the respective authorities.