(Clearwisdom.net) To participate in the Canadian traditional Heritage Day event, Falun Gong practitioners from Calgary attended the annual grand parade in Strathmore and received a warm welcome from local residents and visitors.

Strathmore is a town 30 miles east of Calgary that has a population of 10,000. Though the town is small, the people are kind and warmhearted. The world famous Calgary Horse Racing stadium is located in the town. The annual grand parade of Strathmore attracts about 50 groups from local and nearby cities and over 10,000 spectators, so the parade is also called "Stampede."

Among the 50 parading processions, Falun Gong was outstanding. A banner reading, "Falun Dafa" and three boards of "Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance" led the way. Next came the fan dance team accompanied by the music "Pudu." At the end, came the Calgary Cowboy Festival award-winning float. Five practitioners demonstrated Falun Gong exercises on the float. The spectators shouted, "China!" "Beautiful!"

Two other practitioners distributed the flyers and CDs along the street besides the Falun Gong procession. The residents accepted the materials and thanked the practitioners. Some of the spectators wanted to learn the exercises right on the spot. After the parade, two large bundles of truth-clarifying materials were gone, but still we couldn't meet the high demand from the residents.

The parade lasted about one hour. In order to clarify the truth, practitioners stayed after the parade and went to a square in front of a large supermarket at the center of town. The practitioners set up display boards, distributed flyers and demonstrated the exercises.