Australia: Practitioners Take Part in Festival and Parade in Canterbury (Photos)

By a Falun Gong Practitioner in Australia

(Clearwisdom.net) On Aug. 14, 2004, Falun Gong practitioners were invited to participate in the annual Lakemba Haldon Street Festival in Canterbury, Australia. Canterbury is an important multicultural area with dozens of minority groups. More than twenty thousand people go to the Street Festival every year.

Falun Gong parade procession

Waist-drum team

It was a beautiful clear day, and about twenty ethnic groups participated in the happy festival parade in bright traditional costumes. Colorful banners saying "Falun Dafa" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" headed the Falun Gong procession. They were followed by waist-drummers and "celestial maidens." A woman from Kogarah told a Falun Gong practitioner, "Your procession is gorgeous!" She told the practitioner that there would be another parade in October, and asked for practitioners' contact information in hopes they would attend.

The practitioners set up a booth to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and distributed flyers at the festival. A middle-aged man told practitioners that he was very interested in Falun Gong and had read two Falun Dafa books online. More people left their contact information and wanted to learn Falun Gong later.

Falun Gong practitioners were invited to give an exercise demonstration on the festival stage in the afternoon. Their smooth exercise movements and beautiful music unfolded a refreshing sense of peace and beauty to the audience.

Canterbury's Mayor and Council members gave speeches to express their gratitude to the participating groups at the festival. This was the third year that practitioners had participated in the festival, and many local residents learned about Falun Dafa through this activity.

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