Calgary
Festivals
ANNUAL CHARIOT FESTIVAL, MAYURAPATHY
The Annual Mayurapathy Chariot Festival takes place in mid-July as a celebration of Krishna consciousness, part of the feting within a religion that is over 5,000 years old. The Hare Krishna movement, in North America, began in 1967, with Montreal being the third North American city to open a temple. Krishna teaches that the soul is permanent and for that reason one adheres to a level of consciousness that keeps the soul as pure and respectful as possible, that one can after this life will move to a higher level of consciousness. A fundamental aspect of the Krishna belief of course involves being vegetarian; after the parade ends a vegetarian feast os offered for free to the public, accompanied by entertainment such as dancing and music, wit a variety of booths set up too.
2005 saw the first Chariot Festival taking place in Calgary and, with its success the decision was made to make this an annual event. Information on this event is available at the Radha Madhav Cultural Association (Hare Krishna) Temple at 313 4th Street NE, Phone: (403)265-3302. Sundays there are vegetarian meals provided free at the temple as well, after prayer; people are invited to partake in both the meals and if they wish the prayers.
DASHMESH CALGARY - Annual Sikh New Year Festival
Every year, the largest vegetarian festival, the Punjabi Visaki Mela, takes place towards the end of May, as a celebration of the Sikh New Year, commemorating the year that Sikhism was born as a collective faith, in 1699. It has grown exponentially over the years, and includes a parade throughout the neighbourhood surrounding the temple in Martindale, culminating in a huge gathering of booths that give away food and drink, all of it vegetarian. It takes place at the Dashmesh Cultural Centre located at 135 Martindale Blvd. NE, Calgary, and generally runs from 11am to 4pm. This temple was built in 1989, and is the cultural centre for Sikhs in Calgary. The festival itself is very colorful with thousands of people participating in both the parade, and the following interaction on the grounds, where different companies and businesses pitch in to provide wonderful veg food to all who come to join in the celebrations.
There are at least 13 Gurudwara, or Sikh Temples in Alberta, where non-Sikhs can also visit, to learn more of the culture, pray and on weekends partake of vegetarian fare after prayer. It is open to all who wish to learn, and are receptive to such a rich and ancient culture and society.