United Kingdom: Falun Gong Group Won a Prize in the Edinburgh Festival Cavalcade

The 7th of August 2005 was the day of the 59th International Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland. Falun Gong practitioners once again attended the festival cavalcade and were awarded the best Specialty Prize. This is the fourth time that the Falun Gong group has received this prize since they started to participate three years ago.

The first ever International Edinburgh Arts Festival started in 1947 with the intention of uniting all of Europe after the end of World War two through arts and culture. The first activity was very successful. Since then the annual Arts Festival has been highly favoured by everyone. The International Arts Festival has already become one of the most important activities of international communication through arts and culture. This year, over eighty communities and 170,000 people attended.

The annual Arts Festival Cavalcade this year started officially at 14:30 on the 7th of August. When the Falun Gong group appeared in people’s view they started to cheer and one could hear people shouting “Falun Gong! Falun Gong!”

The Falun Gong practitioners’ procession was headed by the three words “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance”. These three words are the principles of Falun Gong practice and practitioners try to live by following them. Behind these words were banners held by both Chinese and Westerner practitioners, followed by dragon-dancing, lion-dancing, a float, fan-dancing and finally ended by a banner reading “Falun Gong is Good”.

On the float, divine beings and heavenly warriors displayed the beauty and wonder of heaven, while reminding the watching crowds that Buddhas, Daos and Gods are an important component of Chinese culture. Elegantly dressed in traditional costumes, female practitioners danced with fans to the music of “Falun Dafa Hao”. Their bright-coloured clothes, the peaceful music and their graceful movements left a very deep impression on the audience.