Bicentenary News Update 1
The National Spiritual Assembly is excited to share with you a first selection from the many exciting reports that have already been coming in, as the friends thoughout the United Kingdom mark the Twin Holy Days and the bicentenary of the Birth of the Báb. Reports of activities, including video clips, can also be followed here on the UK Bahá’í Bicentenary Facebook page. There is also 72-hour rolling news coverage on the international Bicentenary site.
The Hub in Belfast, as featured in Dawn of the Light, prepares to welcome some 200 participants for its bicentenary festival. Girls from the neighbourhood who love singing started a group where every Sunday they put quotes to music. They will be performing at the festival.
Edinburgh hosted a Bicentenary Arts Day. Music, drama, and art were all shared by special groups that have formed in recent months. The day ended with a special scavenger hunt, The Last Man to Mazindaran, in which the children had to piece together a quotation from the Bab.
Friends in Whitstable and Herne Bay in Kent have continued singing together since they came together for the previous bicentenary. On Sunday morning, they met up at dawn by the sea to sing prayers. The previous night they performed and screened Dawn of the Light for neighbours and friends.
Two youth in Stockport created an audio-visual presentation to portray the life of the Báb. A first room was filled with artifacts to create the effect of being in a Persian home. This room focused on the early life of the Báb, His Declaration and His pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. In the second room, stories were told of His exile, imprisonments and martyrdom. A final room showed images of activities of the last bicentenary. Participants, which included 17 friends of the Faith, were invited to a screening of Dawn of the Light.
Six-year old Alex from Hounslow has been building a model of the Shrine of the Báb for the bicentenary since the end of August. He writes, “I like the Báb because he had lots of virtues. I wanted to build the model of the Shrine of the Báb because it is about the Báb and it is a place where people pray, and He liked to pray. My favourite part of the Shrine is the dome. Today at the celebration of the Bicentenary I was very happy.”
Communities and isolated believers in Staffordshire hosted a celebration with music, video and a reading of the Universal House of Justice October 2019 letter. Interesting conversations took place and invitations to a screening of Dawn of the Light were given out.
An exhibition of art, titled Portal, is opening at the Roseangle Gallery in Dundee to celebrate the bicentenary. It runs from 29 October to the 5 November.
Latest Bicentenary news from around the Bahá’í world
https://bicentenary.bahai.org/the-bab/
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