Australia: Introducing Falun Dafa on Springwood Foundation Day in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales

On April 5, 2003, the Springwood Foundation Day celebration attracted over five thousand local people. Local Falun Dafa practitioners and practitioners from Sydney participated in this event.

The celebration is held on April 5 of each year to observe the foundation of the city. It is the 122nd anniversary this year. The celebration was held on Macquarie Road with various performances, including dances, Scotland band performance, aerobics performance, street parade, singing and stalls selling hand-made artworks, food and clothes. Local government officials and the media attended the event.

We participated in the celebration parade as the only Chinese group out of more than 30 groups in total. Dafa practitioners wearing light yellow exercise suits held banners with the words "Falun Dafa" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Female practitioners in pink costumes performed a fan dance, and gained much applause from spectators. The practitioners also demonstrated the five sets of the exercises on the stage, attracting many people to watch.

Local government officials spoke highly of the Falun Dafa group. Federal member Mr. Kerry Barttett said that though there have not been many local people practising Falun Dafa, it is a very important group. The Falun Gong group has contributed a lot to the local multiple-culture construction. Officer Ms. Hanson from the City Hall said that she thought the principle of Falun Dafa "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" is very good. She showed concerned for the current situation of Dafa practitioners in China and expressed a strong wish to support Falun Dafa.

We set up a booth opposite the railway station, handing out Dafa truth-clarifying materials to introduce the goodness of Falun Dafa and the facts about the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China to passersby.

The celebration concluded at 3 :00 p.m.