Buu Mon Buddhist Temple
2701 Procter St. Port Arthur, TX
11th Annual Lotus and Bamboo Festival / Buddha’s Birthday Celebration (Vesak)
June 6th and 7th, 2009 9:30 am till 5:00 pm
Port Arthur’s Buu Mon Buddhist Temple invites you to our 11th Annual Lotus and Bamboo Festival and Buddha’s Birthday Celebration (Vesak) on Saturday and Sunday the 6th and 7th of June 2009 from 9:30 am till 5:00 pm. This year’s slogan: “A Glimpse of Southeast Asia in Southeast Texas”
This year Buu Mon Buddhist Temple is combining its annual Lotus Festival with the Bamboo Festival. We are once again pleased to have the Texas Bamboo Society participating and sharing their knowledge of bamboo and the bamboo culture. They will be giving lectures on bamboo throughout the weekend. A schedule of the day and time of the festivals lectures and activities will be released in the near future.
There will be variety of vendors both days. The Buu Mon Meditation group will have a food booth, as well as, an arts and crafts booth. There will be several vendors from the Texas Bamboo Society selling bamboo plants and bamboo crafts for purchase. The visitors will be able to enjoy Vietnamese traditional cuisine prepared by the temple’s parishioners and purchase a variety of items such as t-shirts, jewelry, and refreshments from the Buu Mon Youth Group and Lion and Dragon Group. The AmeriCorps*NCCC will be assisting visitors’ in the gardens throughout the weekend. At different times during the weekend, live music will be performed by Samsara for the visitors’ enjoyment.
There are four gardens surrounding the temple and they are home to over 30 varieties of lotuses and 20 varieties of hardy and tropical water lilies, as well as, over 30 varieties of bamboo. Some of the bamboo is able to reach heights up to 80 feet tall. In addition to the lotus, water lilies, and bamboo, the gardens include a large variety of tropical fruits and plants. This year Bhante Kassapa will have on display his bonsais, miniature trees he has grown for purchase by donation for the temple.
We invite you to come and see the gardens, obtain advice and tips for your own home garden, as well as an opportunity to purchase plants. You can also sample Vietnamese food, enjoy lion dances and other folk dances, and take lots of pictures.
On Sunday June 7th, we will celebrate Vesak, Buddha’s Birthday, in the temple’s main hall starting at 10 am. The celebration honors Lord Sakyamuni Buddha’s birth, life and death. There will be speeches by resident and visiting monks and local officials, as well as chanting by the monks paying homage to the Buddha. All are welcome to join in the celebration. The gardens will be open that day as well.
For more information, please call Reverend Huyen Viet at (409) 960-1462, Bhante Kassapa at (409) 960-8369, Danny Dubuisson at (409) 982-9199 or the temple office at (409) 982-9199. You can email us at cbmtemple@yahoo.com. Please visit our web site at www.buumon.org. You can contact Judith and Jim Bussey with the Texas Bamboo Society at (409) 379-8156 or email: bambusse@valornet.com
We look forward to seeing you at this year’s festival.
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