(Clearwisdom.net) During the evening of November 27, 2005, the 74th annual Christmas parade was held in Hollywood, California. Falun Gong practitioners participated in this celebration for the first time, and brought to the audience the blessings of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance."
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The annual Hollywood Christmas Parade started in 1928, and was suspended for three years during World War II. This year's annual parade is the 74th. The parade route included Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Blvd, 3.2 miles in total. The sponsor had estimated that tens of thousands of people would watch on the way, and millions of people would view it on TV. Many audience members came to the spot several hours in advance. Some people came with the whole family, and brought campstools and blankets.
The parade procession was composed of drum and bugle corps, equestrians, floats, classical cars with government officials and Hollywood stars, and fire engines. Santa Claus gave out small gifts to children on the way and extended festival greetings to the spectators.
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The Falun Gong contingent composed of practitioners from Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, including a dance group, a waist drummers group and a float. It was the only Chinese group in the parade. The waist drummers group, composed of nearly 100 practitioners who wore golden yellow costumes, was very eye-catching. Wherever the contingent went, there would be vigorous drumming, singing of the song "Falun Dafa is Great," and music of "Pu Du" and "Ji Shi," echoing in the sky.
The Falun Gong contingent's lively and majestic waist drummers group, elegantly dancing "celestial maidens," huge pink lotus float, plus the brilliant and colorful costumes, gave the audience a pleasant surprise. People constantly exclaimed, "Wonderful!"
In the live TV broadcast, when the singing of "Falun Dafa is Great" entered the scene, the host said, "Look at those yellow costumes, outstanding." The hostess also praised, "Those girls' costumes are beautiful. Look at that lotus float, really fantastic." The host and hostess said to the viewers that Falun Dafa was first introduced by Mr. Li Hongzhi, and currently there are more than a hundred million people practicing around the world.
Practitioners in the dance group were like a group of celestial maidens coming to the human world. They held flower baskets, elegantly danced to the spectators lining the street and greeted them, "Merry Christmas!" People in the audience shouted back loudly, "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" Applause and singing echoed each other. When the parade was over, many people had photos taken with practitioners.
