(Minghui.org) Almost 100,000 residents of Calgary gathered on 4th Street to celebrate the 25th annual Lilac Festival on May 25, 2014. Held every spring, this is Calgary's largest celebration.
Booths with all kinds of exhibitions and activities lined the street. As in previous years, local Falun Dafa practitioners participated in the parade at the opening ceremony to share the beauty of Falun Dafa.
Calgary practitioners participate in the parade at the opening ceremony to spread the beauty of Falun Dafa.
Practitioners explain what Falun Dafa is and tell about the health benefits as well as the ongoing persecution in China.
At the opening ceremony parade, the dazzling colors and inspired drumming of the Falun Dafa contingent elicited cheers and applause from the spectators. Many read out loud the banner on the float “Falun Dafa is good.” A Chinese man said to his friend, “The most impressive Chinese procession is definitely the one by Falun Dafa. It makes us Chinese people proud!”
After the parade, practitioners distributed fliers at the Falun Dafa booth and demonstrated the five exercises. Many people came to find out about Faun Dafa and where to learn it.
Ellen talked to the practitioners for a long time and learned about the persecution and forced organ harvesting. She wondered why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would persecute such a practice. When she learned that it was because the former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin was jealous that Falun Dafa had over 100 million followers in a short seven years, she became very serious and said, “I hope this persecution ends soon. I firmly support Falun Dafa.”
A lady who was given a Falun Dafa flier told a practitioner that she was glad that she could study Falun Dafa at home from the websites listed on the flier. She saw a “very pretty procession” in the parade at the Calgary Stampede last July and that was how she remembered Falun Dafa. She had been wanting to know more about it, and her wish came true at the Lilac Festival.
A young couple came to the booth. The lady asked a practitioner whether Ms. Huang Jinling’s daughter had been released from prison in China yet. Ms. Huang is a resident of Calgary and her daughter, Ms. Chen Yinghua, was illegally incarcerated in Shijiazhuang Detention Center for remaining steadfast in her belief in Falun Dafa. The lady learned this from the local news.
When the lady was told that Ms. Chen was still imprisoned and denied all visitors, she looked crestfallen. She said that she had been praying for Ms. Chen ever since she had heard about her plight. She hoped she would be safe and soon be freed. When she asked the practitioner why was Ms. Chen treated that way, the young man next to her said, “It is the Chinese Communist Party! The CCP uses its power to fight its imaginary enemies, even though those people pose no threat.”
On the day of the festival, 32 Chinese tourists quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
