Source: The Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001998981_change07m.html

On August 7, 2004 The Seattle Times reported, "Four years ago, when the Northwest Dharma Association organized 'Change Your Mind Day,' about 75 people attended. This year more than 300 are expected, according to the association's president. Change Your Mind Day is an annual festival held in more than 40 cities in the United States to celebrate Buddhism, which is practiced by perhaps one-eighth of the world's population. Co-sponsored locally by the Northwest Dharma Association and the Seattle Asian Art Museum, the Seattle event will include Buddhist teachings, meditation, chanting and children's activities led by practitioners from several Buddhist traditions. The festival's growth in Seattle mirrors the expansion of Buddhism nationwide and particularly in the Northwest, which has one of the nation's largest concentrations of Buddhists. There are about 400 Buddhist groups and temples in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, compared with 100 in the mid-to-late 1990s.