Kansas City, Mo — No druids.
No aliens.
Just a lot of bleary-eyed people up at the crack of dawn were expected today at the Planetary Vision Festival 2001.
Their mission: to greet the sun on the first day of the first spring of the new millennium. Also, to raise awareness of serious issues facing the world, such as the environment.
Kansas City is one of about 30 places around the globe taking part in the Planetary Vision Festival. From New Zealand to Europe to the Midwest and on to Samoa, the event heralds the vernal equinox, which arrives at 8:31 a.m. EST.
"The purpose is to develop a global consciousness and understanding," said Bruce Pennington, who helped plan the Kansas City event at Penn Valley Park.
Others events will be held in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and San Francisco.
The Planetary Vision Festival was initiated by the Club of Budapest, an eclectic group that includes the Dalai Lama, former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and fantasy writer Arthur C. Clarke.
"Planetary consciousness is a recognition of the vital interdependence and essential interconnection of all humankind and the Earth," according to a festival news release.
Greg Rieke, Kansas City chairman of the American Field Service, a student exchange program, said he gathered a group of area nonprofit leaders and others to put together Kansas City's event.
Organizers said the event was neither political nor religious, although it shares some elements with religion. It also is not like a pagan ritual at Stonehenge.
"There are no druids," Pennington said.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.