Thousands of visitors flocked into Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple New Zealand on 24th and 25th November for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival despite the rainy weather. Various activities were organised by BLIA, including vegetarian food stalls, tea meditation and temple tour.
The opening ceremony of Cherry Blossom Festival Art Salon was conducted at 2 pm, where the distinguished guests were welcomed by the lion dance performance by YAD. The VIPs include Abbess Manshin, Director of BLIA Fellowship Committee – Dolly Tsai, Labour Party Ms Raymond Huo MP, National Party Ms Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi MP, Director of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Auckland – Dr.Chung Hsing Chou, Commander of Counties Manukau East Area – Inspector Wendy Spiller, Committee Representative Inspector Rakesh Naidoo, principals of high schools and various artists.
Abbess Manshin expressed her gratitude to over 90 artists who participated in the Art Salon for bringing happiness to the local community. Abbess Manshin hoped the attendees could work hand in hand to bring happiness and auspiciousness to the community via artworks. In conjunction with the International Vegetarian Day, various subdivisions of BLIA prepared delicious vegetarian food for the visitors. Abbess Manshin also urged the public to join ‘Vege Plan A’ and save our planet by committing to vegetarian meals.
The attendees of the ceremony were entertained by a special performance by a Harper, Lana Breed, which also happened to be her first performance in Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple New Zealand. She commended on the serenity and tranquillity of the temple, which enabled her to indulge in her own musical instrument. The artists expressed their appreciations to the temple as it provides a platform for them to display their artworks. The artists were in awe with the combination of Humanistic Buddhism and arts and they were looking forward to more masterpieces and artists next year.
The Cherry Blossom Art Salon will be held from 10th November until 9th December, where the number of artists participated this year had tripled compared to last year. Approximately 500 artworks including oil paintings, acrylic paintings, watercolour paintings, glass art, jewelleries, pottery, photography, wood sculptures, bronze sculptures, stone sculptures and Maori weavings are currently exhibited in the temple.