By a German Falun Gong practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net) On September 3 and 4, 2005, the annual Sachsen Day Festivities were held in Weisswasser. Invited by the sponsor, Falun Gong practitioners from across Germany came to take part in the event. They made use of this opportunity to clarify the facts about Falun Gong so as to let more people learn about the practice and the persecution in China.

Exercise demonstration

Practitioners demonstrate the exercises on the beautifully decorated float

Falun Gong practitioners in the parade

On the first Sunday of September every year, Sachsen Day is celebrated in different cities in a grand manner. The number of participants may be as many as several thousand people. Participants included more than a hundred associations and groups, and major media outlets from various places in Germany also attended. This year's sponsoring city was Weisswasser, near the border between Germany and Poland. Besides the Falun Gong practitioners who were invited, there were also over 400 artists from Poland who came to participate.

On the performance stage on September 3, the Falun Gong practitioners gave dance and waist drum performances and also introduced and demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. While distributing leaflets during the intermission, practitioners met and had a short conversation with the local city Mayor and the Minister for the Sachsen area.

Falun Gong practitioners perform elegant traditional Chinese dances

Falun Gong practitioners perform elegant traditional Chinese dances

At our information stand, people were surprised to hear about the cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Others paused to watch Falun Gong practitioners performing the fifth Falun Gong exercise, a peaceful meditation. A great number of people expressed an interest to learn Falun Gong, and some signed their names on the petition form calling for the immediate release of Jiang Renzheng, a practitioner who was deported to China from Germany and is currently in a labor camp in China.

On September 4, about three hundred vehicles and nearly six thousand people participated in the grand parade. The Falun Gong practitioners' beautifully decorated vehicle, the vigorous waist-drummers, beautiful dancing and the dignified and joyous large flags attracted the viewers' enthusiastic applause as they asked for Falun Gong informational materials.

Traditional waist drum performance

People pause in front of the Dafa information stand to learn the facts

While practitioners are doing the exercise, a group of young children follow along with them to learn the exercise

It was very noisy while waiting for the start of parade, and the practitioners began practicing the first four sets of exercises. Visitors - adults and children alike - were immediately attracted and followed along with the practitioners in doing the exercises.

Source:http://clearharmony.net/articles/200509/28789.html