By Marnie McAllister, Record Assistant Editor
The Center for Interfaith Relations annual Festival of Faiths will be presented May 13-18 at Actors Theatre of Louisville, 316 West Main St.
Under the theme, “Sacred Earth, Sacred Self,” this year’s festival “focuses on the choices we make and how they reflect the story of our relationship with the Earth and, in turn, with the divine,” a press release from the festival’s organizers said.
The festival will open with an interfaith service at 5:30 p.m. on May 13 at the Cathedral of the Assumption, 433 S. Fifth St. The “Interfaith Service: A Call to Prayer” is free and open to the public.
The week-long event will also include presentations and discussions with leaders in areas of social justice, ecology, sustainable food, scholars and spirituality.
On May 14, Kentucky poet and farmer Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and environmentalist, will speak at a program called “Distant Neighbors.”
This title is also the name of a newly published book by the two writers. It’s a collection of their correspondence that won’t be available in bookstores until June. Advance copies will be available at the Festival Bookstore in Actors Theater.
The event will be held in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The cost is $25.
Other speakers and events include:
- Daily guided meditations will be offered by Gerardo Abboud, president of the Buddhist Dongyuling Center in Argentina.
- A reflection on “Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future” will be offered by cultural ecologist and indigenous scholar-activist Melissa Nelson on May 14 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Admission is free.
- On May 17, World religions and Buddhism expert Ed Bastian will lead a program on InterSpiritual Exploration and InterSpiritual Zikr. Bastian will be joined by his son Jonathan Bastian, host of WFPL’s “Morning Edition;” Sheik Kabir Helminski and Sheika Camille Helminski. The cost is $15.
For a complete schedule of Festival events, visit www.festivaloffaiths.org.
Tickets range from free to $25. A week-long pass is $150. Student tickets are half price.
Tickets can be purchased on the festival website or at the Actors Theatre box office at 584-1205.
