"Gratitude takes nothing for granted..."

Thank You for Joining Us on This Journey!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to every person who has played a part in our Festival of Faiths journey over the past 25 years: spiritual leaders, attendees, scholars, students, donors, volunteers, performers, and many more.

Whether you're a longtime supporter or a Festival newcomer, you are a blessing to our community of "Many Faiths, One Heart, Common Action."

We are so very grateful for each and every one of you!

This month we are celebrating the 25th year of the Festival of Faiths!

To honor this milestone, we've been revisiting key moments in our history. Check out our walk down memory lane, which includes a curated selection of vivid Festival photos.

As we wrap up our look back,

please consider donating “$25 for 25” to support our mission!

DONATE NOW!

Thomas Merton

On taking nothing for granted

Every Monday, we share a bit of Thomas Merton's wisdom to get the week started. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter to be among the first to see #MertonMonday.

You can find past #MertonMonday installments on the CIR blog.

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the U.S. and Canada celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the Pilgrims of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people.

The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating “Thanksgivings,” days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought. Thanksgiving did not become an official holiday until Northerners dominated the federal government.

As the country became more urban and family members began to live farther apart, Thanksgiving became a time to gather together. The holiday moved away from its religious roots to allow immigrants of every background to participate in a common tradition.

Wisdom Wednesday

Widening your "circle of compassion"

Our latest #WisdomWednesday features Dr. Omid Safi during the 2018 Festival of Faiths, where he posed the question, “How wide is your circle of compassion?” He goes on to say: “What if love compels you to say ‘One God. One Humanity,’ and that same one God who loves, who creates, who feeds, who nurtures, who redeems, and who calls us home compels us to swim in this cosmic current of love with absolutely no exceptions?”

Click the photo to watch the clip, or check out the full session on YouTube.

Festival Flashback

The art of making "vulnerable art"

Brianna Harlan, a mixed-media artist, explores identity-based experience through radically vulnerable art to invite transformative dialogue. Let us listen again to her process as she talks about the art of making vulnerable art during the 2018 Festival of Faiths program “LISTEN! Feminine Wisdom”

Thanksgiving Flashback

2012 Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Service

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, we want to share this moving Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Service held at Cathedral of the Assumption during the 2012 Festival of Faiths. This service celebrated and gave thanks for our diverse religious traditions and for the enriching opportunities for interpersonal exchange within our civic community.

2012 Festival of Faiths Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

Common Action

Experience Local Art

Our latest #CommonAction seeks to support local, national and international artistic talent in Louisville’s vibrant neighborhoods. The Fund for the Arts has created an interactive mural map that showcases murals located around town, and we are asking people to visit and reflect on the artwork. We encourage you to take selfies with the murals. You can either tag us or the Fund on your posts!