(Clearwisdom.net) The biggest folk arts festival in Taiwan, the Keelung Ghost Festival, has been celebrated for 157 years, and culminates each year with the release of water lanterns. On the evening of August 13, 2011, the Falun Dafa group, including the Divine Land Marching Band, participated in the festival parade.
The Divine Land Marching Band performs in the Keelung Ghost Festival parade
The message “Falun Dafa is great” leads the Falun Dafa procession
The parade started at 7 p.m. with fireworks and horns from boats in Keelung's port. Mayor Chang Tung-rung, Speaker Huang Ching-tai of the Keelung City Council, and President Ma Yung-jeou gave speeches. President Ma attended the parade for the third time. He said, “This year the parade's scale is larger with a different style. The floats are spectacular and admirable.”
The Falun Dafa float
Many organizations participated in the annual parade and presented various decorated floats with colorful lights. The organizations participating in the parade included the Falun Dafa Association, Keelung government, City Council, Port Bureau, Environmental Protection Bureau, schools, and non-governmental organizations etc.
The band performs
Falun Gong practitioners distribute origami lotus flowers
The band, consisting of more than 200 Falun Gong practitioners, participated in the parade for the fifth year and gave a moving performance. A team of 12 Falun Gong practitioners dressed as celestial maidens distributed hand-folded paper lotus flowers printed with the words “Falun Dafa is great.” When the parade of 36 organizations concluded a little after 10 p.m., the crowd was still full of excitement.
