For seven years, religions of all kinds have been brought together for the annual "Festival of Faiths," led by local organization EquaSion.
EquaSion is made up of members of the community to create an inter-faith nonprofit. Their values based around "Equality, Spirituality, Inclusion."
The 2024 Festival of Faiths kicked off on Sunday, August 25, at the CIVAS Center, located at Xavier University.
The event reported that this year's collaboration was made up of 13 religious groups and 34 faith traditions, according to EquaSion's website.
Sunday's event saw a packed hall, with dozens of booths and tables for each culture and community. Attendees were invited to meet representatives from all the faiths, allowing them to take the time to ask questions and learn more.
The festival's goal is to bring the people of Cincinnati closer together, allowing each other to learn new things by conversation. The nonprofit's website includes the quote, "The best way to accept diversity of religion is to be educated about all the different religions."
Sunday's main exhibition opened with several faith leaders bringing the crowd together in prayer, continuously expressing the message of peace.
Then from noon to 5 p.m., the booths were open, as different faith-based organizations were given the chance to perform.
A performance of "Let there be Peace on Earth" was sung as the week-long event began.
There was a traditional Sikh song, played with three instruments, as other believers followed along in song on the stage.
For many groups, this event marked a chance to teach people about cultures they may not even know exist.
For others, it is about spreading a message of love and hope.
“Our religion believes in universal brotherhood of mankind, that is a goal of the Zoroastrian religion for our world,” said Becca Desai.
One of the Board Members for EquaSion, Aasees Kaur, is also a leader in Cincinnati Sikh community, and spoke about how this event allows for positive conversation, instead of education following tragedies.
"Normally for someone like myself, who's worked in the Sikh Civil Rights Base for over a decade, is used to doing this work in a reactive space after a hate crime, after profiling, after an attack at a place of worship. And this really takes us a step forward because we're able to do this work proactively," said Kaur.
The festival also allowing all religions and cultures to show pride in their worship and cultures, "It gives us an opportunity to engage with our authentic selves," Kaur added.
Online resources and programs will be available for people to attend from Monday - Wednesday. EquaSion has a full scheduleavailable on their website.
The annual peace walk will conclude the week. The event will be from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Thursday, August 29 at Ault Park. Local Buddhist minister, Aruni Marapane, will lead the attendees in prayer to start Thursday's walk.
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