(Clearwisdom.net) April 6, 2007 was the start of the annual National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia, which is a major festival. It attracted many Canberra residents, people from other cities and towns, and tourists from around the world. Falun Gong practitioners participated in this festival through introducing Falun Gong and exposing the persecution in China.
People wore beautiful clothes to the festival and came to the celebration with their family and friends. The National Folk Festival included music, folk dancing, various foods and fashions, and craft exhibitions. More than one hundred booths were set up to showcase each country's culture and traditions. Falun Gong practitioners set up a booth to introduce Falun Dafa. They also demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and traditional Chinese dancing on stage. Young women dressed in fairy costumes danced gracefully, attracting many festival visitors to stop to watch and applaud.
The practitioners also held the photo exhibition, "The Journey of Falun Dafa," to introduce the worldwide spread of Falun Dafa, the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and the shocking exposure of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. Many tourists were moved after seeing the exhibition. One woman had tears in her eyes while viewing the photos. She told a practitioner, "You are great. I don't know how to help you, but I will tell my friends about these stories and ask them to support you."
One visitor said, "I really don't understand why such a good practice system is suppressed in China. Falun Gong helps people to become healthy and follow 'Truth-Compassion-Tolerance.' What's wrong with that?" He said indignantly, "The 2008 Olympic Games should not be held in China. It is the shame of the whole human race. People across the world should protest the CCP."
The folded paper lotus flowers made by the practitioners were a big hit. Many people visiting the practitioners' booth learned how to make the paper lotus flowers. They also listened more to practitioners' discussion of Falun Gong and the persecution.
Over the course of the four-day festival many people learned about Falun Gong. Several boxes of Falun Dafa introductory flyers, magazines, CDs, and other literature exposing the CCP's harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners were distributed. Many people came to learn the exercises. People also asked for information about local practice sites. When accepting the literature, people sincerely thanked the practitioners. Many condemned the CCP's atrocities and expressed their wish that the persecution would end as soon as possible.
