Australia: Falun Gong Contingent Receives Two Awards at Festival of Fisher's Ghost Grand Parade in Sydney

On the afternoon of November 5th, 2011, the Campbelltown City Council in Sydney announced that the Falun Gong contingent had won two awards at the Campbelltown City Festival of Fisher's Ghost, including "Best Cultural Group" and "Overall Runner Up."

Divine Land Marching Band participates in Campbelltown City Festival of Fisher's Ghost grand parade in Sydney, Australia

Falun Gong practitioners in Sydney were invited to take part in the Campbelltown City Festival of Fisher's Ghost parade. The procession, composed of more than 100 entries with more than 2500 participants, set off at Broughton Street, moved along Queen Street, and continued for about one and a half hours before reaching Koshiyaga Park. Nearly 30,000 audience members participated in this festival celebration.

The Falun Gong contingent has participated in this parade since 2000, and won various awards and prizes. Both organisers and the audience have a favourable impression of Falun Gong.

Event participants also included federal and state MPs and city council members, who were seated on the main stage to watch the parade procession. When the Falun Gong contingent passed by, the host made an introduction to the audience through a loudspeaker about the characteristics of Falun Gong and its development, its widespread in more than 100 countries around the world, and the meaning of ancient Chinese cultivation practice.

The Falun Gong contingent was composed of the Sydney Divine Land Marching Band, a Falun Gong exercise demonstration team, and a beautifully decorated float, with practitioners sitting on beautiful handmade lotus flowers, looking extremely elegant. Peaceful music brought a wonderful feeling to spectators on both sides of the road.

Practitioners were also invited to set up a booth a week later to demonstrate Falun Gong exercises to people of different nationalities.

Practitioner Ms. Qu said that a western family of four came to ask for Falun Gong informational materials as soon as they set up the booth that day. Ms. Qu also introduced the English version of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to the family, and told them about the persecution in China. The mother told her two children to go back to read the book carefully.

Two sisters in the neighbouring booth were selling handicrafts. The younger sister said that she often suffered from insomnia, and couldn't sleep well. After listening to the Falun Gong exercise music, she took a short nap. She was surprised and said that she had never had such a comfortable sleep. So she came over to ask for truth clarification materials.

Ms. Wang said that two local Catholic priests were shocked after learning about the Chinese Communist Party agents harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. They exposed this atrocity at their church, and asked more than a thousand parishioners to sign a petition to be delivered to federal MPs, urging the Australian government to investigate and stop the crimes.