(Clearwisdom.net) The Calgary Stampede began on July 8 in Calgary, Alberta, an important city in western Canada. In the grand parade as part of the opening ceremony, Falun Gong practitioners' outstanding performance was once again warmly received by spectators and highly praised by the organizers.
  A six-meter-long banner with English and Chinese words, "Falun Dafa" draws great attention. |
  Dance performance "Lotus flower" wins commendation. |
The 10-day-long outdoor fair and rodeo stresses the cowboy spirit and multi-culturalism. This year's Stampede features rodeo competitions, agricultural exhibits, commercial exhibits, midway rides, and some top music and entertainment. Because of its local flavor and its variety of competitions, the Calgary Stampede is called the "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". Its scales and level are second to none in the world.
Similar to previous years, this year's Stampede opened with a grand parade which set off at 8:55 a.m. on July 8. Along the busy Sixth Avenue and the Ninth Avenue, the nearly 3 mile parade lasted 2 hours. According to parade organizers, the parade had 160 entries including music bands, floats, rodeo, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, minority groups, Cowboy Queen and Miss Cowboy. This year's Stampede parade attracted 350,000 spectators and a television audience of more than 2 million.
In order to exhibit the beauty of Falun Dafa, nearly 40 Falun Gong practitioners from Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and other places participated in the parade. Through careful preparation, practitioners' procession attracted spectators' attention as soon as they entered the parade route. People praised, "So beautiful!" Many people thumbed up or took pictures and yelled, "Yahoo....", the special language of the Stampede to express their appreciation.
Waist drum troupe
Indeed, the six-meter long banner with Chinese and English words, "Falun Dafa" was extremely eye-catching. This was also the biggest banner in the parade. Six lotus flower fairies followed the banner. Their green Tang Dynasty costume and performance were graceful.
Following a group of dancers came the beautifully decorated float with the words, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and "Falun Dafa". On front of the float stood a sculpture of a flying beauty who held a lotus flower in her hands, which symbolized the beauty and blessings of Falun Dafa. Around the float, four practitioners dressed in yellow exercise uniform demonstrated the sitting meditation, the fifth set of Falun Gong exercises. A kind-looking Bodhisattva sat in the middle. Two fairies stood alongside, smiled and waved toward spectators. Behind the Bodhisattva was a tall Tathagata who erected his right hand in front of his chest and sat on the lotus flower stand.
A waist drum troupe composed of 20 practitioners including four playing Tang drums brought up the rear. The sound of the drums was full of power. The original sky that was covered by dark clouds gradually became clear and sunshine was bright.
Wherever practitioners' procession passed, people yelled, "Yahoo" to show their joyfulness and admiration. After the parade concluded, spectators sincerely expressed when seeing practitioners who dressed in yellow practice uniforms, "You are the best!"
In addition to the parade procession, practitioners who set up truth-clarifying booth on the 7th Avenue also said that people usually thumbed up when they received Falun Gong flyers. Some said, "Yellow, good!"
Practitioners' outstanding performance did not only exhibit the peacefulness of Falun Dafa, but also brought the beauty of Falun Gong to people. Falun Dafa received commendations at large in the Calgary Stampede.
However something suspicious happened during this year's award ceremony. Because of Falun Gong group's outstanding performance, we won the Best Cultural Entry in last year's Calgary Stampede. This year, however, Falun Gong won the second place in the category of "Commercial and Non-profit organizations". When practitioners asked the parade organization committee why Falun Gong was listed in the "Commercial" category while they applied for the Cultural category, officials of the committee told them, "A local Falun Gong practitioner named George Colt phoned us just before the Stampede and requested us to list Falun Gong group in the category of commercial and non-profit organization."
It is well known that Falun Gong is a self-cultivation practice and has no formal organization, even less so, it has any commercial activities. In addition, there is no practitioner in Calgary called George Colt. There is even no such person called the same name in the local area. Then who was the man who claimed himself as "George"? What was his purpose for doing so?
According to an insider, since Falun Gong group won the Best Culture Entry in the largest Stampede parade in North America last year, an official from Chinese Consulate in Calgary expressed his displeasure to a local Chinese group, saying, "We've spent more than 8,000 dollars on you, but you are unable to compete with Falun Gong."
Our purpose in participating in the parade is to display the beauty of Falun Dafa and express our best wishes to people, rather than competing for awards. However, at the last minute, some fake Falun Gong practitioner phoned the committee and arranged our group in the commercial category which contained well-funded and very competitive entries that left little chance for us to win any award. What exactly was the purpose? Perhaps, some people or groups were not willing to see that Falun Gong won the Best Cultural Entry again.
