In just a few short days, the Dalai Lama and numerous musical acts will gather at Syracuse University for several events promoting world peace. The forum is the first of its kind in Central New York and as our Candace Hopkins reports, is expected to draw more than 20,000 people to campus.

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Experts, spiritual leaders and musicians will all come together next week at SU to promote a shared goal.

"There's a lot of tensions in the world and a lot of animosity, so this is trying to get people to come together to have a better understanding, to reach some common ground, so that the world is a safer and more harmonious place," said World Harmony Productions Media Representative Mark Emery.

The Common Ground for Peace Forum will feature several appearances by the Dalai Lama. He and other experts will discuss the current state of world peace during two panel discussions on Monday. Then Tuesday two dozen musicians will perform inside the Carrier Dome, including The Dave Matthews Band.

"It's very unique in that sense that of looking at trying to increase the world dialog towards peace in two different formats. One is the panel discussions with high profile people, the other is doing it through music, as a different avenue and there's a lot of top people coming in," said Emery.

Nearly 24,000 people are expected at Tuesday's concert. Organizers say SU is the best location in this area for this type of event.

"It's in the central part of the state, they've had a lot of high profile people come in here, they're used to doing it as well as all the various aspects of the college and what they're focused on," said Emery.

The first event kicks off Monday morning at the Goldstein Auditorium with a panel discussion on Democracy in the Middle East. Tickets are still available for each of the events and they are all open to the public.