A five-day “Hare Krishna Legacy Festival 2026” will run from Wednesday to Sunday next week, bringing together celebrations of the global Hare Krishna Movement’s 60th anniversary, ISKCON Guyana’s 50th anniversary and the country’s 60th Independence Anniversary.
The festival, hosted by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) of Guyana through its Hare Krishna Study Centre (HKSC) in Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, opens on 8th July and closes on 12th July.
Each day will commemorate a different milestone.
Wednesday’s opening programme, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at HKSC, 1 UG Road, ECD, honours ISKCON’s 60th anniversary. Thursday’s event, also at 6:00 p.m., marks ISKCON Guyana’s 50th anniversary alongside the nation’s 60th Independence Anniversary.
Friday’s programme, from 6:00 p.m., commemorates 20 years of preaching in Georgetown, East Coast Demerara and East Bank Demerara.
The Ratha Yatra Festival takes place on Saturday, marking 20 years of the chariot procession tradition in Guyana. The procession begins at 1:00 p.m. from Success, ECD, followed by a cultural programme at the Lusignan Tarmac from 5:00 p.m.
The festival closes on Sunday with HKSC’s 10th inaugural anniversary, marking 10 years since the temple’s consecration. That programme begins at 3:30 p.m. at HKSC.
The centre was inaugurated in July 2016 as a spiritual landmark commemorating Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary and ISKCON’s 50th anniversary of incorporation.
The Ratha Yatra, held across all three counties, is modelled on the centuries-old festival of Puri in the Indian state of Odisha. The tradition was introduced to the Western world in 1967 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of ISKCON, and is now observed by devotees in major cities worldwide.
A wooden chariot bearing the Deity forms of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Lady Subhadra will be drawn by devotees through the streets amid devotional singing and dancing.
Each evening will feature a cultural and spiritual stage programme, including kirtan, bhajans, classical dance and drama, along with vegetarian feasts served daily to attendees.
Special guests from the United States, India, Trinidad, Suriname, Panama and other countries are expected, including HH Bhakti Vasudev Swami, HH Bhakti Sundar Swami, Ajamila Das, Gaura Mani Devi Ji and family, and Baldev Das.
Temple leaders said the festival reflects the movement’s continuing role in spiritual upliftment, moral education, peacebuilding, religious harmony, youth mentoring and social development.
All events except the Ratha Yatra procession will be held at the Hare Krishna Study Centre, 1 UG Road, East Coast Demerara, Georgetown.
