Scotland, UK: Practitioners Invited to Participate in the Edinburgh Meadows Music Festival

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners were invited to participate in the Edinburgh Meadows Music Festival on June 3 and 4, 2023. They introduced Falun Dafa and Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and exposed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes the practice. During the event, practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises and played waist drums around the venue, which were welcomed by the public.

The annual Edinburgh Meadows Music Festival in Scotland is held in Meadows Park in the center of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. This annual event has been held for 50 years, and integrates music, live performances, food and leisure activities. In 2015, Dafa practitioners participated in the event for the first time and were well received. Every year since then, they have been invited by the host organization.

Waist drum team performs during the Edinburgh Meadows Music Festival. 

People learn about Falun Dafa. 

People sign a petition calling for an end to the CCP’s persecution.

During this year’s festival, practitioners demonstrated the exercises and performed on waist drums at their booth and in the central performance area. The audience responded enthusiastically, with applause and cheers. The popularity of Falun Dafa prompted the organizers to adjust the program several times, changing the 15-minute exercise demonstration and waist drum performance to an unlimited performance, and scheduling an additional performance on Sunday. 

The music festival has two adjacent venues. It was originally planned that the waist drum team would perform once around the venue where the practitioners’ booth was located, but was later changed to two venues, to perform multiple times. Finally, the organizer reserved one of the central areas exclusively for practitioners, and they were invited to continue performing. 

Musician José has his photo taken with a Falun Dafa practitioner. 

José, who helped organize the music festival, commended practitioners as, “very good people” and remarked, “I’m really glad to have the Falun Dafa group participating. Everyone is happy to see their performances. All the teams that participated in the Meadow Festival are also happy [about them]. You have attracted more people to the festival. Many people come back because they want to meet you and watch your performances.”

José added, “Many people walking around the venue are holding leaflets [about Falun Dafa], and they are reading them. I think the concept of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and the Falun Dafa exercises are positive for people’s mind and health.”

People read Falun Dafa fliers.

Photographer Tracy Crossan

Tracy Crossan is a photographer for the music festival and is learning new skills at an academy in Stirling. She told practitioners that the Falun Dafa team is beautiful and she absolutely loved it. She kept taking photos of practitioners, and said she would post them. She also said that she wanted to learn how to do the Falun Dafa exercises. She told practitioners, “You should contact schools. This exercise can help students relieve stress. I will bring some materials back to my college, and see if they can get in touch with you.”

Kind-hearted People Should Not Be Persecuted

An older gentleman stood in front of the practitioners’ booth, clasped his hands together, and was moved to tears as practitioners did the exercises. A practitioner approached him and asked softly, “Why are you crying?” He choked up for a long time, pointed to the display boards about kind-hearted practitioners being subjected to the CCP’s organ harvesting, and said, “I cried because of this. This evil shouldn’t exist, should be stopped, but I don’t know how.”

He said, “The word compassion has profound meaning, and the power in life is kindness. It [the CCP] cannot take the lives of kind people. Those who [obey the CCP] and do such things are generating karma. The karma will fall on themselves, and their lives will be destroyed. I shed tears for them too.”

He told practitioners that he is a film practitioner and his name is Anthony Salmon.

John Borthwick, a teacher, said he’d heard about Falun Dafa, and learned that this practice is beneficial to both mental and physical health. “I believe that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is amazing,” he said. “When you are under all the pressure, you can still think of others. This is admirable.”

Teacher John Borthwick admired Falun Dafa’s principles.

John signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution in China. He said that he’d heard about the CCP’s live organ harvesting before, and when he researched it, he found that this was a serious problem. He realized that it’s still taking place in China, which he said is scary. John said, “I think people should support protesting the persecution. I hope my signature can at least provide some kind of help. I also hope that your efforts will make progress. Keep going. I fully support you.”

Tamsyn Wilson felt sad about the persecution. 

Tamsyn Wilson, a nurse, read the display boards and leaflets about the CCP’s live organ harvesting. She was moved to tears and told a practitioner, “This is very unfair. It’s terrible. Honestly [the CCP] shouldn’t be hiding anything, or persecuting anyone.”

Anne-Lanre Carruth and her son enjoyed the waist drum team’s music. 

Artist Anne-Lanre Carruth brought her son to the practitioners’ booth several times to watch the exercises and listen to the waist drum performances. She said that the exercise music was very relaxing, and her son liked the waist drum music. “I took my son around to listen to the music,” she explained, “and he said he wanted to come back here and it’s all the music he wanted to hear. I read the information about the persecution, and I’m shocked. I didn’t know about it. If I can help, I’d love to.”