(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners participated in the popular Hunstanton Carnival on June 25, 2023 in Hunstanton, Norfolk. The King’s Coronation was the theme for this year’s carnival. At the end of the carnival parade, Mr. Mike Ruston, Chairman of Council & Mayor of Hunstanton, presented Falun Dafa practitioners with the first place award.

Falun Dafa practitioners participated in Hunstanton’s festival to help celebrate the recent coronation of King Charles III.

Practitioners were presented with the First Place award.

The event was organized by the Hunstanton Town Council. Hunstanton is located in Norfolk, in eastern England. Its west side faces the sea and the area is in a historic, strategic location. It has been one of the U.K.’s most popular seaside holiday towns since the 19th century.

The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly on Sunday, June 25. Visitors from all over the world were welcomed by warm summer breezes. The parade set off at 1 p.m. from the Recreation Ground and passed through the residential areas before ending at the beautiful seaside park, The Green.

The parade consisted of many groups including marching bands, dance troupes, music groups, and performers on stilts. The Falun Dafa practitioners’ group featured practitioners demonstrating the exercises, a dragon dance group and a waist drum troupe. People along the parade route took pictures and videos of practitioners as they passed by. Some practitioners distributed fliers, and many people were happy to receive them and asked for more information about Falun Dafa.

The Falun Dafa group, which consisted of exercise demonstrations, a dragon dance and a waist drum team, was greeted with cheers and applause by the audience on The Green.

Falun Dafa Well Received

During the event on The Green, practitioners gave a dragon dance performance and lively waist drum performances, followed by the harmonious exercise demonstration. Many people followed along with the practitioners’ movements as they did the exercises. When the exercise demonstration ended, the audience cheered and warmly applauded.

The Mayor and Vice-Mayor of Hunstanton personally presented the first place award and trophy to the Falun Dafa practitioners. They also had their photo taken with the practitioners. 

Afterwards, the event organizer invited the practitioners to come on stage to introduce Falun Dafa, demonstrate the exercises and showcase their waist drum and dragon dance performances for the audience. During the introduction, practitioners told the audience that Falun Dafa was first introduced in China, and through practicing, one can obtain mental and physical benefits. However, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule, practitioners, who abide by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, are persecuted in China.

They explained that Falun Dafa is treated very differently in China as compared to the rest of the world. Outside China, Falun Dafa has received thousands of commendations and awards from different governments and organizations. Many countries have proclaimed May 13^th as World Falun Dafa Day, and practitioners are well-received and respected in all parts of the world. However in China, practitioners have been defamed and suppressed since 1999, and have endured a cruel persceution for the past 24 years. 

The Live Organ Harvesting Should Be Stopped

Mr. Laurie’s entire family participated in the celebrations. He praised practitioners’ performances and said they were colorful, especially the dragon dance, which he called vibrant and outstanding. He said that he really enjoyed this performance and it was not to be missed.

When Mr. Laurie learned that Dafa practitioners are persecuted in China, including having their organs removed while they are still alive, he was shocked. He said, “This is so sad. The live organ harvesting should be stopped. This is really outrageous. Every country’s government should condemn the CCP.” When he learned that he can sign an online petition to object to the live organ harvesting, Mr. Laurie said that he would definitely sign it to show his support for Falun Dafa. 

Ann loved the waist drum performances. She said, “Their costumes are unique. Their movements are graceful and the music, which is rich in ethnic colors, is really attractive to me.”

She said that she already knew about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China from reading about it in the newspaper. She has also signed the petition online to end the live organ harvesting. Ann said, “The United Nations should exert pressure on China. If they do not, that will be terrible. No matter which religion one believes in, he should not be persecuted. We should all object to this kind of cruel persecution. Falun Dafa practitioners must persist.”