Festival of Faiths 2017 will keep its April schedule

Louisville, KY., – Mayor Greg Fischer announced today that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has had to postpone his planned visit to Louisville on April 23-24.

Penpa Tsering, His Holiness’ representative for North America, said the Dalai Lama has been asked to scale back his extensive travel schedule for the next few months to rest and revitalize.

“We express our deepest apologies for this inconvenience,” Penpa Tsering said, adding, “We deeply value our relationship with the Compassionate City of Louisville and look forward to a return visit.”

Mayor Fischer said, “We are saddened that His Holiness is unable to make the trip, but we remain heartened by his desire to reschedule a visit to Louisville, and by his continuing encouragement of our city’s compassion efforts.”

The Dalai Lama had been scheduled to speak during the 22nd annual Festival of Faiths. More details about the festival will be forthcoming.

“We want to stress that while this was a significant part of this year’s festival, there is a tremendous lineup of global speakers and events, and we will be moving forward shining a bright light on the compassionate work of our city,” said Sarah Reed Harris, Executive Director for the Center for Interfaith Relations, which hosts the annual festival.