(Minghui.org) The annual Bok Kai Festival and Parade in Marysville, California is one of the oldest festivals in the state. Firecrackers, dragons, and lion dances are part of Chinese tradition. This year, the Falun Dafa Association added a spiritual touch to the festivities.

Falun Dafa practitioners participate in the annual Bok Kai Festival in Marysville, California, on March 21, 2015.

Marysville, an agricultural city established during the “gold rush” era, is 40 miles north of Sacramento. According to the event organizer, the Bok Kai parade honors “Bok Eye,” the Chinese water god who protects Marysville from flooding.

The parade and festival, which is believed to be the longest, continually held parade in California, started as far back as the 1850s. It was celebrated this year on March 21 and 22.

Irving, a young man who recently moved to Marysville from Los Angeles, came to the festival looking for advice on cultivation. When the lion dancers were knocking on storefronts to offer “blessings,” Irving entered the old Bok Kai Temple, which is Buddhist, but he left disappointed.

At the Falun Dafa booth, he was pleased to find out that this is a genuine cultivation practice. He purchased a copy of Zhuan Falun, the primary guide to Falun Dafa cultivation practice, in English. He wrote down his email to be notified where he could learn the exercises and practice with the group.

A young Chinese lady talked to a practitioner for a long time. She was interested in learning the details of Falun Dafa and its benefits. She said she would bring her parents and her child to learn the exercises in Sacramento. When someone told her it was nearly an hour's drive away, she said, “That's not far at all.”