(Clearwisdom.net) On March 13, 2004, Falun Gong practitioners participated in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in San Diego. Although it was the first time practitioners joined this parade, Falun Gong was warmly received by the audience and organizers. The Falun Gong float stood out among the two hundred participating teams and won the first prize. It was the seventh award that Falun Gong practitioners in San Diego had won in community activities in recent months.
The procession of Falun Gong practitioners looked magnificent and peaceful. Every Falun Gong practitioner manifested the beauty of Dafa. Three western and Chinese Falun Gong practitioners holding a "Falun Dafa" banner led the procession. Following them was a well-decorated float covered with banners saying, "Falun Dafa Is Great," "The World Needs Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance," and the URL of a Falun Dafa web site. Posters telling about free Falun Gong exercise teaching were hung along the sides of float. Practitioners on the float demonstrated the five sets of graceful exercises throughout the parade. A dance team composed of women practitioners in traditional Chinese costumes followed the float. They danced gracefully to Dafa music. Last came the waist-drum team, which has been invited to many activities in San Diego and Los Angeles.
Some organizers of the parade danced to the drum beat on stage, while parade viewers pressed their hands together to greet Falun Gong practitioners. Others rewarded them with waves of applause.
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| Falun Gong practitioners in St. Patrick's Day Parade of San Diego | Falun Gong practitioners take a group picture holding their trophy | Falun Gong practitioners demonstrate the exercises at parade team gathering point in a park. |
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| A parade viewer joins the dance team to get a picture. | Parade viewers welcome Falun Gong. | Applause throughout the parade. |
Falun Gong practitioners' procession received waves of applause throughout the parade. People greeted them, welcomed them and expressed their gratitude in various ways. Organizers of the parade had set up ten broadcast desks along the parade route. As the Falun Gong procession passed by, every broadcast desk introduced Falun Gong, its wide-spread around the world, the awards and proclamations to the founder of Falun Gong and information about free Falun Gong teaching in San Diego.
An organizer told Falun Gong practitioners afterwards, "Your float and dances are so beautiful! Your drums sounded great! Everything was wonderful! You will have to come back next year." A man got a Falun Gong flyer and said in tears, "I know from the bottom of my heart that this is the best thing. It is good for people. I will definitely read it carefully when I go home."
Falun Gong practitioners also set up a booth at the activity site after the parade. They demonstrated the exercises, introduced Falun Gong and clarified the facts of the persecution to the public. Ten practitioners also demonstrated Falun Gong exercises on a stage set by the city government.
A local resident called us the day after the parade and asked how to find the group exercise site. The same day, Falun Gong practitioners taught the exercises in the City Library in the afternoon. This newcomer said she had decided to learn Falun Gong after seeing us in the parade.
