(Clearwisdom.net) On February 6, Falun Gong practitioners participated in the 13^th annual Lunar New Year Parade in Flushing, the second largest Chinatown in New York. Despite the rainy weather, people packed the sidewalks along the parade route to watch the annual celebration.

The parade has a large variety of traditional presentations such as the dragon dance, lion dance, walking on stilts, etc. The Falun Gong contingent, led by a golden dragon and a silver lion, was very eye-catching. Following the dragon/lion dance, a group of practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. At the end of the procession, a waist drum troupe performed "Falun Dafa Is Good," sending best New Year wishes to the spectators.

Mr. and Mrs. Deng brought their children to experience the parade. The couple said that they came every year and really enjoyed it.

Mr. Huang and his wife came from Nanjing to visit their relative about three months ago. The couple said that the parade was very good and that it would be impossible to see a Falun Gong contingent in a parade in China.

In the past several years, practitioners' dazzling costumes, vivid dragon and lion dances, peaceful exercise demonstration, and the exciting Waist Drum Troupe have become attractive features of the Flushing parade.