Because of their outstanding performance in last year's Santa Claus Parade, Calgary parade organisers invited Falun Gong practitioners to join this year's parade again. Practitioners from Calgary and Edmonton City participated in the annual grand parade for the second time and received a warm welcome from the local residents.
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| Falun Dafa procession | Small children come out to greet the Falun Gong practitioners |
The Santa Claus parade was organised by the Calgary Downtown Association with the purpose of enriching the city's cultural life and providing entertainment for Calgary residents. Among a number of activities that day, the noontime parade was the most prominent. This year, there were 40 groups totaling 1,200 people participating in the parade, and there were thousands of spectators, including children waiting for the candy tossed to them by the parade participants.
Some of the parade groups included city council members, students, policemen and businesses. Among all the groups, Falun Dafa was the only team composed mainly of Chinese Canadians. The Falun Dafa team had twenty practitioners. Two Western practitioners held a "Falun Dafa" banner in the lead, followed by two Chinese practitioners carrying a "Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance" banner. In the middle of the group, there was a beautiful float decorated in golden colours with eight Chinese and Western practitioners demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises. Behind the float, there were six young women practitioners dancing. At the end of the group were two senior practitioners carrying a "Falun Dafa" banner. Beside the procession, eight practitioners, including three young practitioners, distributed flyers to spectators along the streets. The whole procession slowly marched eastward along 8th Avenue.
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| Spectators watching the Falun Dafa procession | A girl is absorbed in reading a truth-clarification flyer |
The Falun Dafa procession was peaceful and solemn. It was very different from the other processions and it was very noticeable. As the Falun Dafa procession passed by, cheers and words of praise were heard from the spectators. "Very nice," "So beautiful!" Though we didn't have candy to give out, people extended their hands to receive our truth-clarification flyers.
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