The Bendigo Weekly reports that Bendigo Council has offered support for the Dalai Lama’s visit to their city and the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.

Bendigo Weekly: Friday, 3 November, 2006
The Dalai Lama’s impending visit to the city just keeps getting bigger and better.

The City of Greater Bendigo has announced a $15,000 cash contribution and $5,000 of in-kind support towards the visit and the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion is making plans for a festival.

Stupa CEO Ian Green said the council’s support would help subsidise costs, and may extend to a civic reception for the Dalai Lama’s arrival. “It’s good news, it will help us stage the whole event,” Mr Green said.

“There are lot of costs involved with staging it, it will probably cost in the vicinity of $70,000 to $75,000 to put the event on.

“The more costs that can be paid in sponsorships like the City of Greater Bendigo’s, the less we will need to charge for the tickets.”

The stupa is still accepting registrations of interest for tickets to see the Dalai Lama, with more than 1000 people currently in line to view the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Mr Green said he was still not sure how many people would be allocated tickets, or how much those tickets will cost.

“At the moment we’ve got over 1000 registrations of interest and we know we can fit in a minimum of 1200 people,” he said.

“We are also looking at the possibility of holding a festival for those people who can’t get into the main event. “They will be able to see the Dalai Lama arrive then watch the ceremony on a big screen. “That way we can let in as many people as possible.

He said the Dalai Lama’s representative in Australia is impressed with Bendigo’s enthusiasm for the visit.

“He is particularly impressed by some of the events, like the Bendigo event where we are giving as many people as possible the chance to see the Dalai Lama.”

Mr Green urged those who wished to attend the Dalai Lama ceremony to register their interest at www.stupa.org.au.

“We are also looking for help to raise funds, particularly from local corporate sponsors, to keep the ticket prices down to a small amount,” he said.

The Dalai Lama will visit Bendigo on June 7, 2007.

He is expected to arrive mid-afternoon and stay for around two hours.