Buddha's Day and Multicultural Festival
From May 2 to 4, the Buddha's Day and Multicultural Festival, will be lighting up Melbourne's CBD. The annual three-day event celebrates the birth of Buddha and the multi-faith community. This year, the festival will take place at Golden Square – the Lonsdale Street car park that doubles as an exciting event space. Expect a huge line-up of traditional ceremonies, concerts, transformative digital activations, art, live music and immersive experiences.
On the first night, visitors will be treated to the exciting Light It Up Opening Ceremony featuring performances from the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne and traditional Buddhist ceremonies. The event will culminate in an epic animated light projection that brings the iconic five-storey Bodhi Tree mural on Lonsdale Street to life with dazzling visuals.
Throughout the rest of the event you can visit the Lumbini Garden (home to giant-sized sculptures), which replicates the garden where Buddha was born and provides a calming oasis for prayer and mindful relaxation. Nearby is the Mindfulness Forest filled with illuminated columns for visitors to colour their way to calmness.
On the main stage, there'll be multicultural performances from a variety of different groups, featuring everything from K-Pop to Sri Lankan traditional dances. And for the kids, there'll be a special area with plenty of fun activities like face painting, origami and learning Chinese calligraphy, as well as puppet show performances.
The festival is free...