(Clearwisdom.Net) Saturday, September 7, 2002 was the day for 2002 Spring Festival of St. Mary's, a town in western Sydney, and the 33rd Orange Blossom Festival of Castle Hill in Baulkham Hills Shire, which is located north of Sydney. The two places are quite remote and there are not many Dafa practitioners there. Today is the first time for Dafa practitioners to participate in the local celebrations and parades officially in the name of the Falun Dafa group. The Spring Festival and the Orange Blossom Festival were on the same day. The parade for the Spring Festival was held during lunchtime and the latter started at around 6:30 p.m.
Throughout the day the sunshine was brilliant and the sky was clear. About 50 groups participated in the parade of St. Mary's Spring Festival. At night, it was a little bit cold, but nearly one thousand people attended the celebration of the 33rd Orange Blossom Festival of Castle Hill. The Dafa practitioners gave well-received performances during both parades.
During the parade in St. Mary's Spring Festival, Dafa practitioners' beautifully decorated float and the peaceful, gentle meditation demonstration, followed by practitioners wearing Tang Dynasty clothing and performing a traditional Chinese dance, together with the colorful art performance, demonstrated the beauty of Falun Dafa to the local people. Many raised their thumbs to the Dafa practitioners and said, "Wonderful!" Many children, even babies, would burst into a smile as soon as they saw the Falun Dafa group. They clapped their little hands happily, cheering us on. Several Dafa practitioners handed out truth-clarifying materials along the streets, and many people happily accepted them or even actively asked for them. When we passed in front of the main stage, the host said loudly to over 50,000 people in attendance through the loudspeaker, "Please give your warm applause to the peaceful and colorful Falun Dafa group. Their banner has the words 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance', and their meditation practice is peaceful and graceful." The mayor, deputy mayor and five councilors attended the parade for the Spring Festival and witnessed the beauty of Dafa.
During the night parade for the Blossom Festival, The golden characters of "Falun Dafa is good" in both English and Chinese on our banner shined gloriously under the lights. The fluttering dance of Dafa practitioners seemed like floating clouds and beautiful fairies. The local residents applauded and cheered continuously. Reporters of the local newspaper Hills Shire Times and journalists from other media took many photographs. On the main stage, the mayor and councilor, the Chairman of Blossom Festival Committee, the deputy mayor, as well as 12 councilors and other officials of the local government, were treated to the outstanding performance.
When the parade was completed at about 7 p.m., the night market for the whole street had just started. When Dafa practitioners returned to the Dafa information desk, they saw more people were actively asking for Dafa truth-clarifying materials, signing the petition and asking for details of practice sites. People were told that they could get further information about the exercise workshops and practice sites from the articles published on their local newspaper. A couple who took their two children told practitioners that they were recently moving home from Gold Coast to here, and their whole family wished to learn Falun Gong at the nearby practice site.
After the parade, the head of a multi-cultural department ran up to us and said to the Dafa practitioners, "Your group is so graceful, indeed beautiful and beyond our expectations. We must arrange the best position and enough space for the young practitioners in the floats of the multi-cultural department in next year's parade." Indeed, what can make people happier than to discover and embrace the wonderful Dafa?
