Blessing & Meditation Deck

Priests and deacons from the Center of Light, a Christian mystical spiritual school, will be giving powerful blessings for people to receive a healing. This speeds up the process of clearing out negativity inside to make a space for inner peace.

On the opposite side of the deck, a meditation area will be set up for people to sit quietly, meditate, pray, contemplate…

Labyrinth Walk 

Walking the labyrinth both symbolizes and helps facilitate the process of going inside to the center of one’s being…an essential practice for cultivation of inner peace.

Peace Stations 

Be sure to visit each of our interactive areas where you can leave your peaceful intentions, wishes and prayers, for the city of Oakland and the World!

Within the Blessing & Meditation Deck is the peace prayer area – take a small peace dove card and write/draw your intention and tie it to the link fence along the water – then let your peace prayer wave!

World peace map – find a place in the world you want to dedicate a moment of peace, love, connection, protection…help yourself to a peaceful heart sticker and put it on a place on the world map that needs your prayers and peace.

Facebook Peace Tent 

This interactive exhibit utilizes the power of social media and the internet to spread peace through the digital world. Choose a peace sign to have your picture taken, then post it directly to your Facebook page to proclaim your dedication to peace.

Sweet Treats Table

Every item of food and drink is donated by local merchants – come and consume the sweet treats with gratitude for your neighbors who have extended themselves to you in peace!

Kids Peace Activities 

Activities for children include making prayer bracelets, peace prayer doves, hearts, and other arts & crafts. Also featuring free face painting.

Led by Master Leora, director of the Center of Light, Oakland, we will chant “OM” every hour, on the hour.  The vibration produced by chanting Om in the physical universe corresponds to the original vibration that first arose at the time of creation.  The sound of Om is also called Pranava, meaning that it sustains life and runs through Prana or breath.  Om also represents the four states of the Supreme Being.  The three sounds in the Om (AUM) represent the waking, dream and deep sleep states and come from the belly, the heart and out from the top of the head.  The chanting of Om drives away all worldly thoughts and removes distraction and infuses new vigor in the body.

Destiny Arts-”Flash Mobs”

The Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company is a multicultural group of teens who co-create original performance art pieces in collaboration with professional artists, combining hip-hop, modern, and aerial dance, theater, and martial arts.  They will be performing two flash mobs including song, dance, rap during the noon and one o’clock hours at the Peace Festival.  The productions are dynamic, creative forums for young people to express their fears, hopes, and strategies for confronting challenging personal and social issues.  The company has performed all over the Bay Area since 1993, for over 25,000 Bay Area audience members annually.

Oakland Youth Chorus (OYC)-Concert

The jubilant songs of the Oakland Youth Chorus will be the finale of this year’s Peace Festival.  They OYC is a multicultural music education and performance program for youth that fosters talent, confidence and community.  Founded in 1974, OYC serves hundreds of children and youth each year in chorus programs in schools and community sites.

Frank Fazl Oliver-Dances of Universal Peace

The Dances of Universal Peace are simple, meditative, joyous, multicultural circle dances using sacred phrases, chants, music, and movements from the many spiritual traditions of the earth to touch the spiritual essence within ourselves and recognize it in others. Everyone is invited to participate!

Building on the work begun by Samuel L. Lewis in the 1960s, they promote peace and integration within individuals and understanding and connection within groups worldwide. There are no performers nor audience: new arrivals and old hands form the circle as everyone sings and dances together.

Wolfgang Ettenreich-Digeridoo

The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread use today, both in Australia and around the world. The didgeridoo is played with continuously vibrating lips to produce the drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. This requires breathing in through the nose whilst simultaneously expelling stored air out of the mouth using the tongue and cheeks. By use of this technique, a skilled player can replenish the air in their lungs, and with practice can sustain a note for as long as desired. The sound that the didgeridoo creates is meditative and grounding, and is used for various healing modalities.

Niroga Institute and Carey Allen, Certified Yoga Instructor-Yoga Classes for All Levels

Niroga is a non-profit organization that brings Transformative Life Skills to students, vulnerable youth, cancer survivors, seniors and people battling addiction. The work of Niroga directly uplifts thousands of people every week in schools, juvenile halls, homeless shelters, cancer hospitals and rehab centers.

Their programs are part of a cost-effective front-line prevention and intervention strategy for violence reduction, education and mental health, and positive youth development. Niroga also trains minority young adults to become Certified Yoga teachers, prepared to serve their own communities with cultural competence and linguistic sensitivity.

Med Mob

Med Mob’s intention is to create an environment for people from all religions, all world views, and all experience levels to join together in meditation. Our vision is to continue inspiring world-wide meditations until the entire world is invited to join – literally!  The meditation is a simple, one-hour, silent meditation followed by 11 minutes of “Sound Bath.” We invite you to join us for all of it, part of it, or come to hang out and bask in the peace. We invite you to come with your own deepest intention for yourself, your community, & our planet.