(Clearwisdom.net) The Seventeenth Annual Asian Culture Festival was held at Redland Fruit and Spice Park in Homestead, Florida on March 3 and 4. It is not only a big cultural event for the Asian community in southern Florida, but it has also become a major venue for mainstream society to learn about Asian culture and customs. Falun Gong practitioners attended the event under invitation.

Visitors ask for information about Falun Gong

People attentively listen to the practitioners' explanation

People learn how to make folded paper lotus flowers and request information about Falun Gong

The event attracted up to ten thousand visitors. The Falun Gong booth happened to be at a three-way intersection, and most of the visitors passed it during the course of the day. Practitioners continuously demonstrated the five sets of exercises with the accompanying music. The poster boards and banners drew peoples' attention. Many of them asked questions out of curiosity, wondering what Falun Gong is. Quite a few of them said that they knew a little about Falun Gong and that the practice is banned in China. Some of them also knew that this is a very good practice, currently under the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution. They were familiar with practitioners' peaceful protests in New York and many other places. When practitioners patiently introduced Falun Gong and talked about the persecution, as well as the shocking fact of the CCP's harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, all visitors were shocked and indignant. Some of them had tears in their eyes when they learned about the persecution, and one woman even burst into tears.

The two-day event helped many people learn the facts of Falun Gong. Several boxes of Falun Gong introductory materials, CDs and newspapers, as well as the materials revealing the CCP's atrocities of organ harvesting were distributed. Many people requested information about local practice sites. People showed solemnity when they learned about the persecution and extended their thanks to the practitioners. Some people received the materials on the first day and indicated that they would read them. On the second day they came back with sincere thanks. A monk wearing a yellow cassock came and listened to the practitioners' introduction, and asked for many copies of the literature.

Many people watched the practitioners to learn how to make the beautiful folded paper lotus flowers at the booth. Through this activity, they had more opportunities to learn the facts in person from practitioners.

Ms. Khanya Moolsiri, Chairperson of the Thai-US Association and the organizer of the festival, is a devout Buddhist. She was very supportive of Falun Gong practitioners joining the event. She arranged for a free booth and assigned the best location to the practitioners.