Allanton World Peace Festival. Dumfries, Scotland

The 21st annual World Peace Festival took place at the May Peace Prevail On Earth International – Allanton Peace Sanctuary in Scotland.  The local community gathered from far and wide to attend the festivities to amplify the spirit of peace and goodwill.

The day was filled with music by local musicians young and old spreading glee and joy to all participants.  A flurry of workshops and presentations were offered throughout the day including Aikido demonstrations, Japanese Tea Ceremony experience, Shintaido movements along with a fair-trade cafe all the while the line at the organic ice cream stand never ceased to stop.

The highlight of the afternoon was the World Peace Flag Ceremony which was held at the Peace Pole Henge.  All participants followed the sound of singing bells and gongs to make their way to the Henge where a Peace Pole dedicated to all countries of the world are planted in a circular Henge.  World flags were handed out one by one to all the participants who then walked into the Henge to stand next to the Peace Pole they represented.  The flags were raised when the name of the countries were called out and a loud refrain of MAY PEACE PREVAIL ON EARTH was recited in unison at the end of each section.

For the grand finale, all 193 flags gathered at the center of the Peace Pole Henge as the flag bearers waved their flags in tune to the melody of the choir.  At the very end, a mysterious gust of wind arose to flutter the global flags in the wind to carry our intentions of peace to every corner on earth. It was a truly magical way to end the day of festivities.

May Peace Prevail On Earth.