(Clearwisdom.net)
On October 13, the largest Thanksgiving Parade took place in Kitchener, Waterloo. This event is listed in the top 100 events of North America, and it attracts about 300,000 visitors each year. This year is the event's 35th anniversary and there were 130 groups participating in the parade. Falun Gong practitioners from Canada joined the parade to promote Falun Dafa and introduce Chinese traditional culture. The Falun Gong procession was composed of the Waist Drum Team, Lotus Flower Float, Taiwan Gaoshan Traditional Costumes, Tibet Costumes, and Fan Dance Teams. A lot of bystanders remarked, "The Falun Gong procession is really great." Canada's CTV broadcast the parade live and introduced Falun Gong.
The practitioners participating in the activity deeply felt that all practitioners were one integrated body. The drum team, dance team and exercise demonstration team members were from Toronto. In order to avoid traffic, the dance team members got up at 4 a.m. to prepare and drove to Waterloo. The drum team members had only five days to prepare before the parade. They used their spare time to practice, and they practiced so hard that many of them could hardly raise their arms. The practitioners from Kitchener and Waterloo were responsible for coordination and float decoration. Practitioners from Hamilton were in charge of distributing flyers before the parade. All practitioners gave of themselves and merged into the group so that the parade reached the goal of promoting Falun Dafa and clarifying the truth.
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| Falun Gong exercises demonstration | Waterloo Thanksgiving Parade | Falun Gong float |
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| The Waist Drum Team | Tibet Dance |
Some anecdotes during the parade:
- The audience waved their hands following the rhythm of the waist drum team and there was continuous applause along the way. When the drum team stopped performing, the audience said, "Keep going! Keep going!"
- Some Chinese visitors watched and videotaped the Falun Gong performance.
- A practitioner on the drum team said, "Today I truly experienced í The Stage is being set for the Fa!'"
- One visitor saw the practitioners practice meditation in Tang Dynasty costumes and said to friends that the meditation was beautiful.
- One practitioner's husband (not a practitioner) volunteered to take water to those who came from afar.
