(Clearwisdom.net) The Worcester Asian Festival, sponsored by the South East Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts, was held on June 24, 2007. Falun Gong practitioners participated in the festival representing the Chinese culture and were warmly received. The annual Asian Festival showcases the cultures of Asian countries including China, India, Korea, and Vietnam.

The Falun Gong booth was the busiest. Crowds of people surrounded the booth, and more waited for their turn outside of the circle. Children who came to learn how to fold paper lotus flowers unknowingly pushed the booth table forward by a foot. The sponsor told the next booth, which was an insurance company, to close early so that their table could be used for folding paper lotuses.

Volunteers at the Japanese culture booth took turns to learn how to fold a paper lotus. Dressed in kimonos, they followed the instructions carefully and also listened to the introduction of Falun Dafa and heard about the persecution in China.

Many people became interested in learning Falun Gong and were happy to know that a group exercise site would be established in Worcester. They asked for the time and location as well as contact information. A young Asian woman asked practitioners to teach her the exercises. A Japanese man left his card and asked practitioners to tell him when workshops started. Another man that wanted to learn bought the book Falun Gong.

A college student from China asked many questions and took all kinds of printed materials including a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. He said he would read them carefully.

A Chinese woman came to the Falun Gong booth, examined the materials, and claimed that the Falun Gong introduction materials were political and unsuitable for distribution at the festival. The practitioners patiently told her about Falun Gong and how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) calls Falun Gong political in order to deceive people and sustain the persecution. Practitioners invited her to go to the festival committee for further discussion. The woman knew she was in the wrong, so she left after secretively putting an introductory flyer in her bag.

The host of the festival gave two introductions to Falun Dafa and said it was a great cultivation practice for mind and body. There were still more people who wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises and lotus-folding towards the end of the activity. Some said such a great practice should be in the Worcester newspaper so that more people would know about it.