Festival of Faiths to Hold Kickoff; Announce Speakers

The 15th annual Festival of Faiths is not until November, but its organizer, the Center for Interfaith Relations, is holding a kick off event for this year’s festival tomorrow. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer has more.The theme for this year’s Festival of Faiths is soil. And during the kick-off organizers will announce the lineup of prominent speakers on the subject who will be in Louisville for the event.Lauren Argo is with the Center for Interfaith Relations and working to organize this year’s festival. She says the center is working to involve more people in the upcoming festival and have a presence throughout the community."This year, we’d love to have the spotlight on local farms," she says. "We also have a community gardens project and we’re working with Life Centered Ministries and they will be using this community garden to help the Russell area."Even though the festival doesn’t take place until November, Argo says organizers have already begun to reach out to involve a wide range of people throughout the community."This is not limited by the silos of religion," she says. "It’s really thinking about how we as humans have a spiritual and environmental responsibility to the earth and the soil and all the things that intertwine with that — food, nutrition."Argo says author Wendell Berry is already scheduled to appear at the November festival.Argo says Thursday afternoon’s kickoff will include food and live music at the center’s garden at 415 W. Muhammad Ali Boulevard. It starts at at 4:30 p.m.