To serve as the bedrock of community life in every locality, Bahá’u’lláh has ordained in His Most Holy Book, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the holding of a Feast every nineteen days. His Son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, said that the purpose of the Nineteen Day Feast is “to foster comradeship and love, to call God to mind and supplicate Him with contrite hearts, and to encourage benevolent pursuits.”

These community gatherings around the world are varied in outward form owing to local conditions and customs. However, its program would always include the offering of prayers and reading of passages from Bahá’í scriptures, a time for the sharing of news and consultation on community affairs, and also a time for socializing and fellowship. It is an opportunity for the community’s Local Spiritual Assembly—the local governing council of the Bahá’í community—to know the concerns of the community and strengthen its relationship with it.

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