United States: Introducing Falun Dafa at the 2004 Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival in Northern California

Practitioners from the San Francisco Bay Area participated in the 2004 Art & Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay - an event that attracts over 250,000 people annually. The largest pumpkin this year weighed over 1200 pounds. There were lots of participants and events.

Adults and children all enjoy the Pumpkin Festival	People show an interest in learning the practise of Falun Gong

A number of people watch practitioners' demonstration and read leaflets	Some people learn the exercises on the spot	Children enjoying learning the exercises

When practitioners arrived, we had not made previous arrangements for a booth or space. However, through an interesting set of circumstances, we talked to the owner of a house that was right in the middle of the main walkway, who let us use her front yard to set up a table with fliers and posters. We were there both days of the event.

Here are some experiences shared by practitioners who participated:

Practitioner M:

In my experience, being there was really wonderful. It took us 2 hours to get there, when it usually takes 30 minutes, but it was well worth it. I didn't feel discouraged if some people didn't receive the fliers and I tried my best to keep righteous thoughts all the time. The more I persevered, the more people I was able to reach and to talk to.

I was moved by the intelligent bright eyes of kids, they went out of their way to reach for a flier and took it as something precious to their distracted parents.

Practitioner S:

Towards the end of the second day, the weather got worse. It started raining very heavily and was very windy. We decided to stay a bit longer and continue to pass information to people. Now we would just pass VCDs, because the fliers would get wet. It was amazing how many VCDs we passed that last hour during heavy rain and wind. Almost everyone was taking one towards the end. Out of the box, we had maybe 15 left at the end.