On Sunday August 23rd, from 12pm to 6pm, the Parkland’s Celebration Lawn will transform into an exotic experience of tastes, sounds and colours.With 5-10,000 people expected to attend and a list of invited dignitaries including the Premier Anna Bligh, Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, and Councillor David Hinchcliffe, the festival, celebrating the rich cultural contribution of India to Australia, has something for the whole family to enjoy.

Your taste buds will be tempted, with a huge variety of delicious food available from stalls throughout the day.

Ranchor Das, chef at Brisbane’s famous Hare Krishna restaurant, Govindas, will be on hand and will be holding cooking demonstrations, teaching culinary enthusiasts how to prepare the delectable dishes on Govindas popular lunchtime menu.

The award winning Nepali Artist, Rashmi Amatya, is joining us especially for the event, to exhibit her devotional art which is an avenue for expression, as she has been deaf all her life.

The main stage will present a mix of music, dance and drama throughout the day, while Byron Yoga, Byron Bay’s longest running yoga school, will be giving free yoga classes.
The kids will be kept entertained by a plethora of children’s activities, including the ever popular jumping castle and a dedicated tent full of children’s activities.

Entry to the festival is free, and a yoga retreat worth $1250 is being given away as a door prize, so don’t miss this opportunity to experience the exotic sights and sounds of India right here in Brisbane.

The Krishna Birthday Festival will be held on Sunday August 23rd from 12pm to 5pm and all Brisbane residents are invited to come and participate in this major cultural event.

For further information contact Taraka Sticha on 0402 599 416

Krishna’s Birthday Festival is bringing Krishna to the heart of Brisbane. This year the festival is being held at the beautiful Roma St Parklands, right in the heart of the Brisbane CBD.

View Larger Map

Access by Train

The Roma Street Train Station is located directly beside the Parkland. All suburban trains stop here providing easy access to the Parkland by using the Platform 10 exit.

For further information about train timetables, please phone TransLink on 13 12 30 or visit the TransLink website at www.transinfo.qld.gov.au.

Parking

There are over 300 car parks within Roma Street Parkland including the Parklands undercover public car park. There are also more than 2,000 car parks within close proximity which includes street parking and undercover public car parks.

Brisbane City Council carries out regular parking patrols of kerb side parking and car parks within the area so make sure you purchase your parking ticket from the pay and display machines!

More information is available at the Roma St Parklands website.

Acclaimed kirtan artist and yoga teacher Carmella Baynie will be appearing at the Krishna’s Birthday Festival this year. She will be performing on the main stage, and will also be leading a Voice in Yoga workshop.

Carmella is a gifted singer and inspirational award winning composer. She has performed and studied sacred music throughout Australasia from an early age.

From renaissance, church music and choral singing, to traditional Indian, African and contempory devotional music, her voice traverses all musical genres. She sings in cathedrals and temples and has performed with indigenous musicians of Australia, Papua New Guinea and North America.

Carmella’s contribution to sacred music includes the award winning international release of ‘Song to the Earth,’ her much loved ‘lullabies’ and pre-natal sound meditation CD ‘Babybreath.”  Her latest release ‘Ashraya’ is the exquisite crescendo of her musical journey to date.

Carmella has dedicated her life to facilitating sound as a healing force, as a vehicle for transformation and vibrational healing, for creating harmony with the whole of nature and ultimately for union with the Divine.

A devoted yoga practitioner for over twenty years and accredited voice and yoga teacher.

Her unique personal style weaves the sacred Indian traditions of sound yoga with other cultural explorations of sacred music and song which awakens the heart, uplifts the spirit and opens the channels of inspiration.

More information about Carmella is available at her website at www.carmellavoice.com

Byron Yoga Centre will be offering free yoga classes from 12 to 6pm at Krishna’s Birthday “Spiritual India” Event at Roma Street Parklands. Founder and director of Byron Yoga, John Ogilvie, has developed the Purna style of yoga, meaning ‘complete’, ‘integrated’ or ‘full’. Purna yoga represents a holistic approach to yoga integrating not just the physical postures but also pranayama (breathing techniques), meditation and philosophy.  John’s classes are a celebration of life - fun and dynamic, bringing out our inner joy. The classes are open to all levels. Just bring your mat and a smile. Byron Yoga Centre specialises in yoga teacher training and offers retreats in Byron Bay and India. For more information please visit www.byronyoga.com.

It will be held in the Roma Street Parklands on Sunday August 23 from midday to 6pm.

To get an idea of what it will be like, think Buddha’s Birthday meets the Brisbane Multicultural Festival.

There will be yummy Krishna food, free yoga classes, music, dance, multimedia presentations, a jumping castle for the kids, and much more…

We’ve held two festivals prior to this one, but nothing on this scale. The other two were in 2006 and 2008, and had around 1000 people attending. This year we are expecting 4000 to attend. I’ll be featuring performers and participants, and sponsors of the festival on this blog in the weeks leading up to the festiva, so that you can get an idea of what to expect.

I would like to extend the opportunity of inviting you to be a part of our annual Krishna’s Birthday celebration. This is a festival organised by the Brisbane Hare Krishna Temple.

The Hare Krishna Temple is a branch of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness and is situated in Graceville. With over 450 centres worldwide, comprising urban & rural communities, schools and restaurants, ISKCON prides itself on being an integral part of the Brisbane community. We are a non-profit organization that aims to deliver the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of India.

To give the people of Brisbane a small taste of what we offer, we will be putting on our annual Krishna’s Birthday celebration at Roma St Parklands on Sunday , August 23rd. To promote this event throughout the area, we have organised a souvenir booklet, which will have articles on the festival, photos, programme details and advertisements of local businesses.

Now we are asking you to join in the festivities by taking part in an artwork competition, to design an illustration to go on the front cover of the booklet. The winning entry will be selected to go on the front cover of the souvenir booklet, a publication with access to over 5000 people. As well the winner will be given a congratulatory prize worth $75.

The artwork can be in any medium - watercolour, colour pencil, pastels or digital images. It should depict Krishna and events relating to His birth. The artwork is open to people from all walks of life and all ages. The A4 size artwork can be scanned/converted into a pdf/eps or a TIFF File and sent to shreeji@in.com.au . The deadline for sending the artwork is July 16, 2009.
Thanking you sincerely,

Sakhi-rai das

Hare Krishna Temple Brisbane
95 Bank Rd
Graceville