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Over 20 Buddhist communities will take part in the first B.C. Buddhist Festival on Saturday (May 30) to promote world peace.

The whole-day event, which is expected to be attended by thousands at the UBC Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, will celebrate the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, who became Buddha.

One of the rituals associated with Buddha’s birthday is the bathing of his statue, and according to festival founder Tsengdok Rinpoche of the Vancouver-based Tsengdok Monastery, this practice has special significance.

“When we come together to bathe the Buddha…we have to do it with a very focused mind, and by bathing the Buddha, that means one starts to look inside and starts to purify oneself, and that actually creates a lot of peaceful energy in one’s body, in one’s physical existence,” Rinpoche told the Straight by phone through an interpreter. “And can you imagine with thousands of people coming together with that kind of energy? That creates so much peaceful energy, and that we can actually try to let the energy be spread out from ourselves to others.”

Featuring food and merchandise displays, cultural exhibits and performances, and meditation walks, the event will also highlight the plight of victims of the deadly April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, the birthplace of Buddha.