I was invited to the recent Govinda Valley New Years Eve event for 2008 and found  it was nothing short of a night to remember. Which is interesting, as New Years Eve is a night many people can't remember...

Ushering in the new year in style we  had beautiful weather, beautiful people, sumptuous food and a transcendental sound vibration – all which converged to form the perfect storm of yogic bliss at Govinda Valley. In the pristine forest setting over 100 guests and staff revelled in a celebration of kirtan, drama, dance and friendship, sharing the dawn of 2008 on a wonderful spiritual high.

At 4pm the evening kicked off with guests arriving to settle in, chill out and mingle with friends over a great selection of non-alcoholic drinks. It wasn't long before the DJ cranked our a range of resonating tunes which brought out the dancing bug hidden in most everyone.

The celebration really began with a delicious vegetarian barbecue, complete with salads, chutneys, tofu steaks and the all-important secret ingredient: …oh, that’s right, it’s a secret… okay, if you must know, it was the expert, devotional cooking of Danielle, Jean, Padmaksi, Matsya-lila and their fantastic team!

And let’s not forget our BBQ-ers : Rasa, Bali and Markendeya. Well done guys, your stock is rising. If I left your name out please accept our apologies; blame the guy who edited this, not me.

After a welcome address from Govinda Valley’s director, Percy Garcia, our special guests from the Le Carnaval Spirituel, currently on a world tour, put on a variety of eye catching and toe-tapping performances, including Bharata Natyam dance, Kathak dance, martial arts and yoga displays. These immensely-talented and hard-working performers brought to life some of the amazing treasures from the depths of the spiritual ocean, and it was our honour and pleasure to have them with us on such a special night. There were more than a few wide-eyes and appreciative smiles in the house!

We were also honoured by the presence of His Holiness Indradyumna Swami, who gave a brief address to the audience regarding the ‘unity-in-diversity’ of spiritual practice. He expressed his heartfelt appreciation at seeing so many people celebrating the New Year in transcendental joy. We thank Maharaja for his involvement and support.

As midnight approached, Percy led an inspiring group meditation, culminating in an joyful kirtan by the Govinda Valley Kirtan Band that bathed us all in a blissful wave of transcendence, as 2007 gave way to 2008! The kirtan continued on and their was music well into the morning. This was an absolutely fantastic event.

I would like to thank the organizers for inviting me, and I very much look forward to seeing everyone for future such events. I’ll mark my diary now for next New Year’s Eve so I can do it all again for 2009!

– Vara