(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners participated in the Annual Festival of Lights Holiday Parade in Salem, Oregon on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2005 and won the Best Costume Award.

It was a clear, sunny day on Dec. 10. The unusually cold weather seemed to add a holiday spirit to the winter day. More spectators than ever lined up along the streets to wait for the parade.

As night approached, an elegantly decorated Falun Gong float started off with the song, "Falun Dafa Is Good." Women practitioners in bright traditional costumes began their joyful fan dance. Some practitioners demonstrated the five sets of slow and beautiful Falun Gong exercises among the lotuses on the float. People cheered and took pictures to capture this beautiful moment. The float carried the resonant and reverberating song into the night sky wherever it went.

The paper lotuses that practitioners had folded to give away were soon all gone. The parade judges accepted lotuses and flyers and thanked the Falun Gong practitioners. When the parade was over, people continued to come to thank the practitioners, ask them how they could learn the exercises and how to find more information on the Internet. Pointing at the words, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," a Christian told practitioners that he could understand the significance and meaning of these words. As a matter of fact, isn't this the case for the compassionate side of everyone in the world?

Falun Gong practitioners won the Best Costume Award in this parade.