(Clearwisdom.net) On July 19, 2007, Falun Gong practitioners attended the biggest festival in Edmonton, Canada--Capital EX--and won the highest awards in the parade--the Grand Champion Award for the best overall entry, as well as the Ethnic Heritage Award.
Practitioners' group in Chinatown
The parade
The Capital EX festival was initiated in 1879. In 1962, the festival was renamed Klondike Day in memory of the Klondike Gold Rush. In 2006, the name of the festival changed back to Capital EX.
It is the biggest festival in Edmonton every year. In the ten-day long festival, people hold all kinds of activities in memory of their ancestors.
Practitioners win the highest awards in the parade--Grand Champion Award and the Ethnic Heritage Award
According to Ms. Avery Gerbavac, the organizer of the parade, more than 120 groups attended the parade and 215 thousand people watched it. She said that Falun Gong practitioners have attended the parade three years in a row and have won awards every year.
Spectators warmly applauded the practitioners. The host of the parade introduced Falun Gong to the audience, "Falun Gong is the best group this year. Let us all remember 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.'"
Patrick Maloney, a Falun Gong practitioner, said that the persecution of Falun Gong, which started on July 20, 1999, has been ongoing for eight years, and the awards are very meaningful on the eighth anniversary of practitioners' anti-persecution efforts. He said that as a Canadian, he appreciates Chinese culture and benefits a lot from practicing Falun Gong. He said that the Capital EX parade is the biggest one in Edmonton, so Falun Gong practitioners are taking this opportunity to spread the beauty of Falun Gong to the public.
