On Saturday, 29 April the Bahá’í community of Kingborough celebrated Festival of Ridván, the holiest time on the Bahá’í calendar, by planting around one hundred native flowering shrubs and groundcovers at the Dru Point Bicentennial Park in Margate.
This was done in collaboration with the Kingborough Council, and Bridget Jupe (aka BJ), the Council’s Natural Areas Interpretation Officer, supervised the planting and participated in the celebration.
Ridván commemorates twelve days in 1863 spent by Bahá’u’lláh- Founder of the Bahá’í Faith-in the Garden of Ridván situated on the bank of the Tigris River, on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Around forty people attended.
It follows on from the very successful planting in August 2020 of 100 trees and plants to mark the 100th anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith’s arrival in Australia, and a further planting in a second bed in 2021.
The plants were purchased from Redbreast Nursery in Margate and donated by the Bahá’í community.
Some were used to fill in gaps in the areas planted previously and the rest in a third garden bed close to the river.
The area planted by the Bahá’í community is visible as you drive into the park at Dru Point, and is a space designed for contemplation.
The plants include a line of black gums planted in 2020 now flourishing next to the path leading down to the Aboriginal Reconciliation Garden and the waterfront.
The black gum provides a food source and habitat for the Swift Parrot, a threatened species which breeds only in Tasmania.
