(Clearwisdom.net) On January 24 and 25, 2004, Falun Gong practitioners participated in the annual celebration of the Chinese New Year in downtown Melbourne. It was the first time that the Falun Dafa Association was given a booth after the settlement with the Federation of Chinese Associations in favor of Falun Gong, following an exclusion of the Falun Dafa Association from the New Year Celebration in 2002.

Falun Gong practitioners were wearing their holiday best plus silk ribbons saying "Falun Dafa Is Great" and "Happy New Year". They demonstrated the five sets of exercises and distributed Falun Dafa materials. Yellow balloons saying "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" in both Chinese and English were people's favorite. The floating balloons appeared in every corner of the site and became bright spots of the celebration.

The person in charge of the Federation of Chinese Associations paid a special visit to the Falun Gong booth, shook hands with Falun Gong practitioners, including those he met in the courtroom, and wished a Happy New Year to everyone. Falun Gong practitioners wished him a successful celebration of Chinese New Year.

Many more people received Dafa materials in the two-day celebration this year than in the past. Many of them used to believe the propaganda of Jiang's regime, but finally learned the truth about Falun Gong after listening to Falun Gong practitioners' explanations.