When?

Friday, October 6th, 2023

Where?

One Zoom link for the Plenary session

ZOOM LINK

Who is invited?

Everyone from L’Arche

Time for Plenary session

2 PM (UTC)

Click on the tab to get the time for a different time zone.

Seattle / Vancouver	07:00
Calgary	08:00
Toronto/Montreal/Atlanta	10:00
UK	15:00
France/Poland/Spain	16:00
Bethlehem/Kyiv/Kenya	17:00
India	19:30
Bangladesh	20:00
Philippines	22:00
Japan	23:00
Australia	Saturday, 00:00
New Zealand	Saturday, 02:00

If needed, use Timezone Wizard to calculate your time zone

Timezone Wizard

Before the Festival

Share your #lightuplarche picture

The week before the Festival, share a photo of you with your community or your family or friends lighting or holding a candle illustrating the theme “Where the light gets in”. Use the #lightuplarche when posting on Facebook or Instagram.

See the fun on Facebook See the fun on Instagram

Let’s share the love with the other communities during the week’s festival !

Sadly, some communities will find it hard to participate to the Zoom event, because in their time-zone, it will be either very late at night or very early in the morning.

But we don’t want these communities to feel left out! So we encourage you to resurrect an old L’Arche custom! To make a few colourful paper cards together; get some (or even all!) community members to sign them; and send it to whatever community you want by post (or by email) wishing them a very happy L’Arche Family Day! You can find the address of the communities using the L’Arche International website.

The day of the Festival

What is needed for the Plenary session

Bring a candle or the torch on your phone for the prayer
Something to eat and drink for the time in Break out Rooms. For that time be ready if you can with your table decorated with your favorite plate, cup or glass and why not wear your favorite apron so you can welcome others into your space, and be welcomed into their space to eat and drink together!
The PDF of the great story translated into your language. You’ll find all the translations in this folder below. Remember to print the PDF before the Festival.
Get ready to act out the story ! Do not hesitate to bring props in front of the camera or get dressed as a farmer, a flower or a pot (why not?)

Download the great story in your language

Last details

For those of you gathering in large settings with a projected video it may be helpful to have a 2nd device so you can interact with the chat where you will find some translations and some opportunities to share.

There will be translations in English, French and Spanish. Do make sure someone translates for those in your community who do not speak French, English or Spanish.

A call to artists: thank you!

The call was heard!

Many of you sent amazing drawings and paintings, thank you to all the artists who shared their art. You will discover these creations during the Festival

What is the L’Arche Light Festival?

Since 1993, the first Saturday in October has been a special day in L’Arche communities around the world. During that day – L’Arche Family Day – we celebrate our shared identity and mission and we also celebrate our diversity. On that day, in all communities, we might expect to see candles, people singing, and a shared meal. However, we may be surprised by the different languages and the unique local traditions across the federation.

The L’Arche Light Festival happens the day before, on October 6. This virtual gathering allows us to experience the joy of belonging to each other – beyond borders or social barriers. We reflect on our global presence and honor both our differences and similarities, knowing that these all enrich our L’Arche Family.