How to follow celebrations around the world
Global bicentenary celebrations will begin at Monday’s sundown in Kiribati. The last sunset of the celebration period is in the Hawaiian island of Kauai, which lies just east of the International Date Line.
Throughout the period, the website bicentenary.bahai.org will give rolling coverage. The site will be regularly updated with glimpses into the celebrations in more than 100 countries.
Currently, the site features articles on the lives and teachings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, a special letter from the Universal House of Justice about the historic anniversary, and Dawn of the Light, the film commissioned for the bicentenary.
The website is available in 10 languages—Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Hindi, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili.
In addition to the website, the following platforms will publish stories, photos, and videos from or related to the bicentenary:
The Bahá’í World News Service: news.bahai.org
YouTube: youtube.com/thebahaifaith
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twinbirthdays/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twinbirthdays
In any given city, the total time marking the celebrations is 48 hours, or two whole days (sunset 28 October to sunset 30 October). But globally, the total period for the two holy days lasts 72 hours. This is because around the earth each day’s first sunset over land occurs in the Line Islands, just west of the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean — and the last sunset is in the Hawaiian island of Kauai, which lies just east of the International Date Line.
The International Date Line, which is an artificial marker demarcating the change of one calendar day to the next, runs from north to south. It takes three rotations of the earth, 72 hours, to cover two sunsets across the planet (see graphic).
The bicentenary celebrations across the planet open a window into the diversity of the human family and its essential oneness.
This article is adapted from an article on the Bahá’í World News Service website.
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