Canada: Spectators Impressed by Divine Land Marching Band's Performance at Waterloo's Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade (Photos)
By Zhang Yun in Waterloo
(Clearwisdom.net) The Toronto Divine Land Marching Band, composed of
Falun Gong practitioners, participated in the Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day
Parade held on October 13, 2008 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Their performance
received a favorable review from the organizer and spectators. The Kitchener-Waterloo region, located about 100 km west of Toronto, is the
largest popular destination for German immigrants in North America. Of the
population of more than 400,000, most of are Bavarian. Before Thanksgiving in
October every year, a grand Oktoberfest is held here, in Bavarian style,
featuring drinking beer, folk dances, concerts and a large scale Thanksgiving
Day parade. They draw nearly a million visitors from all over the world. It is the second year that the Toronto Divine Land Marching Band participated
in the parade in their new costumes. Their performance was warmly received by
spectators along the parade route. Falun Gong Divine Land Marching Band participates in the
Thanksgiving Day Parade in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and is well received by
spectators Chinese people are impressed by Divine Land Marching Band Ms. Liu came to Canada from Shandong Province in China five months ago. When
the Divine Land Marching Band passed by her, she was so excited that she waved
to the band. "I felt particularly warm as soon as I saw they were Chinese. It's the
first time that I've seen this band. When they passed by, I could not help being
very emotional," said Ms. Liu in tears, "I had been waiting and
wondering why were there no Chinese people? As soon as I saw them, I burst into
tears. They are so inspirational, bringing China's beautiful things to people
here. I'm proud of them." Ms. Liu's husband is a researcher at Waterloo University. He said, "The
band is excellent, reflecting Chinese culture. They can promote Chinese culture
overseas. I feel they are remarkable." Ms. Chen is from Taipei. She is proud to see the grand Divine
Land Marching Band Ms. Chen, who is from Taipei, kept waving and applauding the band. She told
the reporter, "It's really a different feeling seeing our compatriots in a
foreign country. I just came from Taiwan not long ago. It's the first time that
I have seen such a grand Chinese band. I'm very proud and happy. I thank
them." Organizer hopes the Divine Land Marching Band will come next year The parade's organizer said, "It's the biggest Thanksgiving Day Parade
in Canada, very successful. There were new entrants in this year's parade,
including bands from the United States. It was estimated that nearly 200,000
people watched the parade." "Divine Land Marching Band is the only band from the Chinese community,
and it's the best Chinese band. I like this band very much, their performance
was full of enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to seeing them again next
year." Police officer Dryan Larkin likes the performance by Divine
Land Marching Band Police officer Dryan Larkin who kept order at the main stage watched the
performance by the Divine Land Marching Band. He gave a thumbs-up and said,
"Thank you!" Officer Larkin told the reporter, "Their performance was absolutely
spectacular, very exciting. Their performance was outstanding. I hope to see
them again next year." Bob and his family praise the Divine Land Marching Band Bob and his family praised the band, "We did not expect to see a Chinese
band. The women drummers were excellent, their costumes were also very nice.
Their performance was fantastic. We are grateful for their coming to the
Thanksgiving Day celebration." The performance is very exciting Joanne Langbein is a manager of a travel agency in Naperville, Illinois. She
brought two tour groups of 98 tourists to the parade. They drove about 12 hours. "It's a wonderful parade, there were many interesting things. The bands
were terrific, and the floats were beautiful," said Langbein, "We came
to the parade for the first time, and everybody is happy. The Divine Land
Marching Band is the biggest band, and their performance was excellent. I like
their costumes." Two women from another tour group said, "We came from Pennsylvania, and
this is the first time we rode a bus to watch the parade. The parade was nice,
and people were very friendly, leaving us with a pleasant impression.
Particularly the band whose members wore ancient Chinese costumes were very
spectacular. Their performance was exciting." Bringing good things to people The parade route was 7.2 km, and lasted for two and a half hours. Zhangling,
who plays small saxophone in the Divine Land Marching Band said, "We
performed all the way to the end of the parade. I was encouraged by people's joy
when they saw us, I did not feel a bit of fatigue; conversely, I became more
energetic the closer we came to the end." Mr. Ren who plays bass tuba said, "Although bass tuba is in the bass
section, it plays an important role in the process of the band's entire
performance. It is very heavy to carry, but when I play it well at all times, it
plays a very good role for the entire band performance. I'm honored to try my
best to bring good things to so many people."
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/10/14/187726.html
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