In August, Seafair in Seattle is a much looked forward to event, attended by huge crowds. Many neighborhoods hold their own parades.

The Lake City neighborhood issued us a permit to march in their parade on Saturday, August 4th, from 7pm until around 9 pm. Out-of-town practitioners from Virginia and Oregon joined our group, to make about 50 Falun Dafa practitioners who joined the parade.

We were easily recognizable in our golden-colored T-shirts, carrying several huge Falun Dafa banners and smaller flags. The leader of our Falun Dafa section of the parade wore a beautiful, traditional Chinese silk blouse and elegant skirt. We tied balloons to the baby carriages and handed out small flags with Falun Dafa wording, for children to wave. Since the parade moved very slowly along the spectator-packed ten-block route, we seized the opportunity to demonstrate the exercises at each stopping point. Onlookers clapped frequently and displayed their pleasure at our presence. Several people asked about Falun Dafa. Unfortunately, no parade participants were allowed to carry signboards or hand out any material. Nonetheless, especially since we had sent forth our righteous thoughts earlier in the afternoon, we all felt that through this parade activity many more people in Seattle were exposed to Falun Dafa.

Seattle Practitioners