United States: Falun Gong Practitioners Attend Ft. Worth Parade of Lights in Texas

Starting at 6:00 pm on November 25th, 2005, nearly 100 organisations participated in the Ft. Worth Parade of Lights at Sundance Square in the downtown area. Tens of thousands of local residents came to watch the parade. This was the first time for Falun Gong practitioners in the Dallas area to take part in this parade. Their elegant procession drew the people's attention. Spectators could not help praising, "Beautiful! Very nice!"

Along the route, there were several podiums. When the practitioners' procession passed by each podium, the Master of Ceremonies would loudly introduce, "Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is an ancient form of qigong, the practice of refining the body and mind through special exercises and meditation. At the heart of the practice are the principles Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. The practice has spread largely by word of mouth, as those who learn it usually find the benefits simply too good to keep to themselves. Falun Gong practitioners offer free exercise instructions. Exercise instruction and related books and materials can be downloaded free of charge at: http://www.falundafa.org/."

Each time after the introduction, spectators warmly applauded and cheered.

Falun Gong exercise demonstration on the float	Dance team

This was the 23rd annual Ft. Worth Parade of Lights on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which first started in 1983. This parade has become one of the largest parades of lights across the U.S. After Thanksgiving, people begin to prepare to welcome Christmas. Many families are busy buying Christmas trees and decorating their houses.

Both sides of the parade route were crowded with excited spectators who came hours before the parade set off. The theme of this year's parade was "Holiday Story Time". The parade set off from the intersection of Taylor Street and Belknap Street and concluded at Weatherford Street. The entire route was about one mile.

The Falun Gong practitioners' procession included a dance team, a drum troupe and a float.

In order to exhibit the beauty of Falun Dafa, practitioners especially designed the float as a pretty boat. The decoration needed a tremendous amount of work. Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chen said, "We have a very simple thought. We just hope that when people see our float and procession, they will have an impression that 'Falun Dafa is great'. Of course, a tremendous amount of work needed to be done, but practitioners used their spare time to make all the preparations."

The parade organisers have very strict requirements on the participants. Each float should have a certain amount of lights and even each individual in the walking units should carry a certain number of lights. Although the parade began in the evening, practitioners got to the site in the morning to make preparations.

A float decorated with banners and lights

The blue skirt of the boat symbolised the blue wave, on which pink lotus flowers blossomed. Two vertical banners that read "Falun Dafa" and "Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance" flew on the boat mast. On the two sides of the boat, one could see the English words, "Falun Dafa". On the float, practitioners dressed in golden suits demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. A "celestial maiden" was sitting in a lotus flower. A group of children dressed like angels sat around her. They waved to greet the spectators.

The unique style, the bright colour, and the serene performance brought people something fresh and new. Spectators read out the words, "Falun Dafa" and cheered, "Beautiful! Great! Happy Holiday!"