Australia: Falun Gong Practitioners Participate in Australia Day Activities in Melbourne

On January 26, 2005, Australia Day, Falun Gong practitioners in Melbourne participated in the grand parade of ten thousand people and gave an art performance, at the city's invitation, at the large-scale Voyages Concert.

In the morning, about one hundred Falun Gong practitioners from Melbourne and Sydney participated in the Australia Day Parade, among dozens of different ethnic groups. In high spirits, Falun Gong practitioners held banners reading, "Falun Dafa is Great" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Their procession was headed by a waist-drum team. Young Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated the five sets of exercises on a float decorated with lotus flowers. Following them were a beautiful Tang-Dynasty costume team, a fan dance team and a silk-ribbon dance team. The Falun Gong procession created one of the most fantastic spectacles, and were accompanied by the music of the song, "Falun Dafa is Good." The parade spectators were impressed by the Chinese culture and were moved by the peaceful spirit that Falun Gong practitioners displayed. They cheered and took pictures with the Falun Gong practitioners. Chinese-Australians thought it was wonderful that Falun Gong could appear in such a grand parade.

Falun Dafa performances at the concert

Falun Gong practitioners in Melbourne gave a performance at the Voyages Concert at Federation Square in the evening. The theme of the concert reenacted an aboriginal dreamtime story of "How the Yarra River was Created." In the story, fights and killing among the aboriginal people angered God, who punished the people with a tsunami, creating the Yarra River. The people finally realised their wrong and stopped fighting. God then threw a spear into the sea and stopped the tsunami. Through this story, the concert promoted the spirit of tolerance, unity and mutual respect.

Falun Gong practitioners in the Australia Day Parade

Among the four hundred actors and actresses, Falun Gong practitioners were the only ethnic-Chinese group invited to perform. The concert director, who knew Falun Gong pretty well, made arrangements for the practitioners to start the concert showing the theme of harmony between God, Heaven and Earth.

Falun Gong practitioners performed the lotus dance, gave a waist-drum performance, performed a Tang-Dynasty costume dance and fan dance, and demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises to Falun Gong music. Their elegant traditional dance and music bathed the square in a blessing of peace and beauty. At the end of their performance, Falun Gong practitioners gave Indigenous Australians a banner with the words, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." More than thirty thousand people watched the live performance. In addition, many local TV station broadcast the concert live.

Group photo of practitioners