The Global Peace Festival hosted an interfaith, intercultural celebration in New York City at 7:00 pm on October 23 at the historic Manhattan Center at 311 West 34th Street, one of the city's most renowned performance venues.

The event celebrated the unparalleled ethnic and cultural diversity of the nation's largest city and include entertainment by a variety of musicians and dancers as well as messages of peace from diverse faith traditions.

The Global Peace Festival promotes the themes of compassion, family, and peace, and works through the Million Acts of Service and Kindness initiative to further the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, which address poverty, hunger, education, equality, health, the environment, and sustainable development.

The Global Peace Festival always stresses service to the local community as a component of building a culture of peace. On October 18, volunteers of all ages helped the New York City Parks & Recreation Department by planting a tree and cleaning the public spaces at the Marcus Garvey Park on 120th Street & 5th Avenue in Harlem. Planting a tree is a symbol of a seed of peace sown for future growth and development around the world. In this way, the festival offers an opportunity to practice stewardship of the environment and ameliorate urban congestion and atmospheric pollution. As a result of the tree planting activities, coalitions were formed between those working with gangs and those working with the parks to help protect the community from negative elements.

The Global Peace Festival is also urging people to join in a coordinated effort with the Points of Light and Hands On Network, City Harvest, the Youth Federation for World Peace, and local food banks in the Small Acts, Big Impacts Food Drive. Due to rising gas and food prices, food banks across the nation are depleted and are in great need of donations to feed America's hungry, especially around the Thanksgiving holiday. Young people collected 300 canned goods in Flushing, Queens, and midtown Manhattan, for the Global Peace Festival’s Million Acts of Service and Kindness food drive. Based on the inspiration drawn from the Food Pantry Drive, participating churches launched subsequent holiday food drives. From October 23 to November 21, food bins for donations will be placed in community centers, grocery stores, and convenience shops.

To learn more or to volunteer, visit the Global Peace Festival-USA’s website, http://gpfusa.org/.