2003 World Falun Dafa Day Celebration in Australia

1. Sydney

Sydney Chinatown - The vibrant, bubbling heart of Chinese culture in Sydney. Cheerful, laughing faces filled Dixon Street, as people came out with their families on this year's Mother's day. Some leisurely strolled by, searching for the perfect Chinese cuisine. Others were simply absorbing the rich sounds and smells of the ever-buzzing excitement.

Suddenly, their attention was turned to the graceful procession of men and women. The elegance of their flowing movements and the spectacular costumes left people mesmerized.

Click the picture to view the photo collection

For the first time in Australia the ancient authentic costumes of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD) were displayed. The Tang Dynasty was one of the most prosperous periods in China's history and considered to be the peak of cultural and social development with high moral standards.

Every costume reflected its uniqueness in color and design. The splendor of the Chinese Court, headed by the Emperor was met with warm applause from the audience. As the procession glided, cars stopped and crowds parted, admiring the beautiful scene.

The parade by Falun Dafa practitioners was a preview to World Falun Dafa Day, May 13th, which celebrates "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." This day will be marked globally and celebrates 11 years of Falun Dafa in the world. "Through the beauty of these costumes we hope to show the beauty of Falun Dafa," said Mrs. Rubacek. A concert will also take place in Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday, which welcomes all members of the Australian Community and is free and open to the public.

Well over two thousand people, including local residents, tourists, restaurant and shop owners enjoyed the display. Over 1000 tickets to the main concert on May 13 were gratefully accepted by both Chinese and westerners. Many media including the AP, Sydney Morning Herald, Radio 2GB, Chinese Singtao newspaper, NDTV also took a lot of beautiful pictures of the celebration and interviewed the practitioners who performed in the display.

Sydney Town Hall - May 13 2003 is World Falun Dafa Day and this year marks the 11th anniversary of Falun Dafa being introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi.

Sydney Town Hall

Sydney Falun Dafa practitioners celebrated World Falun Dafa Day with activities in the center of the city at Town Hall Square. They performed exercise demonstrations, had an information desk and photo display of the Journey of Falun Dafa. The day also saw Falun Dafa practitioners performing a free concert to the general public in the Town Hall in the evening.

The concert included performances by children from the Minghui school, a choir of Chinese practitioners singing various songs, western practitioners singing a Chinese and English version of "Because of You", a magic show and the highlight of the concert was a performance of practitioners in traditional Tang Dynasty costumes.

Despite the rain, the information desk was well attended and the public showed great interest in the display and exercises that were even performed in the pouring rain.

Town Hall Square is the focal point of passers-by and commuters in this busy city and so it was a great opportunity to let more people see the greatness of Falun Dafa.

2. Adelaide - South Australia

3.Canberra practitioners celebrate World Falun Dafa Day

On the weekend of 10-11 May 2003, Canberra practitioners gathered in the city of Canberra to celebrate the World Falun Dafa Day. They gave out many handmade lotus flowers with greeting messages, hand out Falun Dafa introduction and truth clarifying materials, and demonstrated the five sets of exercises. In addition, an elder practitioner provided free calligraphy of western peoples' names in Chinese on paper printed with the three Chinese characters of Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance).