(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners participated in the annual Snowdown Light Parade in Durango in southwestern Colorado on February 3, 2023. Parade organizers placed their colorful float at the front of the parade and later awarded it first place.

Falun Dafa practitioners in the annual Snowdown Light Parade in Durango, Colorado

Every year, thousands of people from Durango and surrounding cities gather to experience an annual light parade in the middle of winter called “Snowdown,” as part of a week-long event. The parade started in about 1979 to lift people’s spirits during the long winter months. 

Practitioners living in the Durango area reached out to the neighboring state of California and asked for support. Practitioners from southern California prepared a beautiful handmade lotus flower float and participated in the first nighttime parade in winter. Practitioners in the parade also demonstrated the five Falun Dafa exercises, and passed out fliers and lotus flowers to the spectators.

As the float was being prepared, the event organizers showed up and asked the Falun Dafa float to be at the front of the parade because it was so beautiful.

Durango has a high-altitude desert climate, and the temperature drops rapidly at night to 30 Fahrenheit. Practitioners were wearing only thin clothing so that they could display their costumes. It was a 45-minute walk in the bitter cold, but they were truly happy to be sharing Falun Dafa with the local community.

One practitioner named Tiffany from Orange County, California said: “It’s all worth it. I feel very fortunate to share that preciousness of Falun Dafa with the world, especially with the people watching the parade tonight. Falun Dafa has improved my mind and body and helped me be a better person every day. It’s based on the universal principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. We love to share the beauty of this cultivation.” 

When the float moved slowly down the street, many people shouted, “Beautiful float!” and “Great job!” 

People held out their hands to accept paper lotus flowers and fliers as the float moved down Durango’s Main Street. The music from the float created a climate of compassion and calm despite the noisy environment. Many said they were moved and wanted to know more about Falun Dafa. Practitioners told them about the principles of Falun Dafa and where to find the local practice site. They also informed them about the ongoing persecution in China perpetrated by the communist regime. 

Many people expressed an interest in going to the local practice site on Saturdays. 

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology, and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 24 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.