Sweden: Falun Dafa Shines at Linkoping City Festival

(Minghui.org) Thousands from the southern region of Ostergotland, Sweden visited the annual Linkoping City Festival “Linköpings Stadsfest” held on August 17-23, 2015 in Sweden’s fifth largest city.

Falun Dafa practitioners participated in the street events on August 21 and 22, along with folk dancers, martial artists, an international food market, a classic cars exhibition, and many other attractions.

People talk with local Falun Dafa practitioner during Sweden’s Linkoping City Festival on August 22, 2015.

Many people were attracted to the Falun Dafa workshop featuring origami lotus flowers, peaceful meditation performed with the sound of pleasant Chinese music, and the human rights appeal to help stop the killing of Falun Dafa practitioners in China for their organs.

The local newspaper Corren featured Falun Dafa on its website in an article covering the festival highlights.

Lotus Flower Workshop

The workshop for making lotus flowers was crowded most of the time: children came and learned to make them, and some came several times during the day and stayed for hours. Their parents were also interested and learned the story of the lotus flowers and their connection to Falun Dafa.

Children learn how to make origami lotus flowers at the Falun Dafa booth during the Linkoping City Festival on August 22, 2015.

In Eastern culture, lotus flowers represent the purity and resilience of the human spirit, which, like a lotus flower emerging from a muddy pond, overcomes all difficulties. Falun Dafa supporters around the world hand-make paper lotus flowers and give them to people, to illustrate the peacefulness of the ancient meditation practice despite the cruel persecution it faces in its homeland.

Harmonious Atmosphere, Beautiful Weather

One could feel a strong harmonious field at the Falun Dafa booth. Local media also quoted the police, who had announced that during the large festival there was no more violence than on a normal week. People were also friendly, curious, and open to learning about the beauty of Falun Dafa. In this way, they also learned about the persecution in a natural way.

Practitioners demonstrate the second Falun Dafa exercise during the Linkoping City Festival on August 22, 2015.

People asked where they could learn the meditation exercises, and were happy to learn that locals do the meditation every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. in the Tradgardsforeningen city park.

Human Rights Petition

After learning what Falun Dafa is, some signed a petition calling for an end to the oppression of Falun Dafa in China by the communist regime, as well as an immediate stop to the harvesting of organs from imprisoned Falun Dafa practitioners and selling them to transplant patients.

The petition is part of an international campaign sponsored by the non-governmental organization DAFOH (Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting). So far, more than two million signatures have been gathered in 54 countries. The petition will be handed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in November.