(Minghui.org) Practitioners participated in the 30^th Suigen Park Cherry Blossom Festival on March 30 and 31, 2024. The Festival was last held in 2019 before the COVID pandemic. It had been five years since people last gathered at the park in Toyota City, Aichi prefecture to enjoy the beautiful blossoms on the over 400 cherry trees.

The weather that weekend was gorgeous, pleasantly sunny and warm. Practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises and many passersby were drawn to the music and gentle movements. They asked about the practice and learned about the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China.

Falun Dafa practitioners exercise on the lawn in Suigen Park during the 2024 Cherry Blossom Festival.

Practitioners hand out Falun Dafa fliers and pamphlets to visitors during the 2024 Cherry Blossom Festival.

Practitioners were invited to demonstrate the exercises on stage.

Practitioners perform the waist drums on stage.

A man walked by while practitioners were setting up their table. A practitioner greeted him and told him about Falun Dafa and the ongoing persecution in China. The man told the practitioner, “I know about Falun Dafa, and I also know the Chinese regime persecutes practitioners.” The practitioner then asked if he knew how the regime systematically harvests organs for transplant sales from living practitioners incarcerated for not giving up their faith. The man was shocked to hear this. The practitioner gave him a pamphlet with information about the 24-year-long persecution. Before he left, he told the practitioner, “You must keep up your efforts.”

Practitioners demonstrated the exercises on stage and performed the waist drums with three songs: “Falun Dafa Is Good,” “Joyful Celebration,” and “Quitting the Chinese Communist Party.” Ms. Mizuno, a practitioner in her 80s, performed a violin solo of a song that she composed.

Before they started the exercise demonstration on stage, a practitioner gave a short introduction and told the audience, “Falun Dafa is also known as Falun Gong, and it teaches people to abide by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. It includes five sets of easy-to-learn exercises, which do wonders in improving physical and mental health. It’s practiced by people in over 100 countries and areas. Please give it a try and do the exercises with us.” Many people mimicked the practitioners’ movements and learned the exercises.

Practitioners introduced Falun Dafa during the two day celebration. At the end of the Festival, the hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Anto, expressed their gratitude for the practitioners’ contribution and said it made the event more festive and diverse.