One World Day at the Pakistani Cultural Garden

The Pakistani Cultural Garden is one of 42 gardens in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. On One World Day (OWD) the entire street is shut down and there is a party in every garden. The purpose of OWD is to display the cultural diversity in our great city and present it to all of Northeast Ohio. This is a beacon of hope when our country has become increasingly divisive, OWD will bring us all together.  OWD is a shining light of this beautiful hidden gem in Cleveland known as the Cultural Gardens. It emphasizes the motto of the Cultural Gardens ‘Peace through mutual understanding.’

The last OWD, in 2019, had about 25k visitors. Such a well-attended cultural event is amazing, but it does cause some problems with parking. We would like to help alleviate this problem by setting up a shuttle service for our visitors. We have set up a location that has ample parking just a few miles away and arranged for transportation to the Cultural Gardens.

The Pakistani Cultural Garden (PCG) is one of the newer gardens and it does not have any structures or monuments in it yet. We need to be able to share our amazing culture and rich heritage with the public that will be attending OWD.  We plan on having a stage upon which we will have a cultural program showcasing our poetry, music and songs. We need to have adequate seating for our visitors to enjoy this cultural program. To further enhance the visitor experience, we want to display some handicrafts and educational information. Additionally, we want to showcase our artwork through application of temporary tattoo or henna. We would like to have some crafts for children so that they will have a hands-on learning experience. The biggest draw to any culture is through its food. We will be offering authentic Pakistani food for everyone to and enjoy. This will require tables and chairs and tents. 

With all the money raised throught this program we hope to have a very successful One World Day in the Pakistani Cultural Garden.       

We at the PCG are very excited to host OWD in our garden.

Goals for successful OWD on August 29th:

• Rent shuttle for transportation to garden
• Arrange for stage, tents, tables and chairs
• Arrange for artist and performers
• Arrange for food
• Purchase paper goods
• Purchase other supplies for crafts etc…
• Arrange to have enough volunteers

Our region of Northeast Ohio has followed the country and become very divided. People have become fearful of the ‘other’. OWD helps to educate the public about people of ‘other’ cultures thus eliminating the fear of the unknown. This sharing of cultures through poetry, music, song, art and food opens up a dialogue between neighbors, friends and colleagues. Pakistani Cultural Garden would like to increase awareness of our heritage and culture thus creating a better understanding between our neighbors in the region. We truly embrace the motto ‘Peace through mutual understanding’