Paris: The Tibetan community in France held a cultural festival as part of its three-day grand celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 88th birthday.

On 7 July, Kyabje Awong Rinpoche from Sera Mey monastery and the monks based in France led the religious observance part of the festival, followed by a gathering of massive Tibetan residents and foreigners on the second day. The final day of the celebration was graced by the presence of Kyabje Awong Rinpoche; spiritual head of the Drukpa Plouray Buddhist study and meditation centre; Lama Gyurme from Kagyu Dzong; Abbot of the Vietnamese temple in Paris; and the France-based venerable lamas and tulkus.

Representative Rigzin Choedon Genkhang from Office of Tibet-Brussels and French Senator André Gattolin attended the celebration as chief guest and special guest, respectively, along with Tibetan parliamentarian Thupten Gyatso, President and executive committees of the Tibetan Association. The festival saw a participation of around 4000 celebrants in total.

The gathering was addressed by the event’s chief guest and special guest. At the same time, Tibetan parliamentarian Thupten Gyatso and Coordinator Thupten Tsering from the Bureau du Tibet, Paris, read Tibetan Parliament in Exile and Kashag’s statements. 

Besides, Tibetan voluntary contributions (chatrel) from around 300 Tibetan residents were collected, and eight non-Tibetans during the last day registered for Blue Book (Tibetan Solidarity Partnership).