(Minghui.org) July 1st, 2012 marks the 145th birthday of the founding of Canada. The Montreal Divine Land Marching Band, consisting of Falun Gong practitioners, participated in the 35th annual Canada Day parade held in Montreal for the seventh year.
Divine Land Marching Band
Audoin Sebaptist from Haiti followed the band and took a lot of photos.
The Divine Land Marching Band played several songs composed by Falun Gong practitioners, as well as the Canadian national anthem. Their excellent performance won the award for the best marching group.
Alameda from Jamaica followed the Divine Land Marching Band for many blocks. She waved the Canadian flag to the band's music. “I am glad to hear such beautiful music. I am very happy to see this group. Very happy. Their performance makes me want to dance,” she said.
Natalya Belenko from Ukraine came to see the band after the parade. She said: “I really love you guys. Your performance is very different than any others I've seen before. It was perfect. The spiritual contents of the music refreshed my mind and body. My heart was touched. It is very special.”
Many spectators said that they liked the band for its beautiful music and colorful costumes. Alain Tremblay told a band member after the parade that he liked the performance. “Why do I like your performance? I am a coach of a marching band in the U.S. I like your music and costumes. Your performance was perfect,” he said.
Elizabeth Sigar took more than 20 pictures of the band. She and her friend, Carlotta Messel from Switzerland, found the band after the parade, and asked the band members to take a photo with them.
Audoin Sebaptist from Haiti followed the band from the beginning to the end of the parade. He kept taking pictures of the band. He said that this band is very beautiful, and they are the most beautiful faces he saw that day. He said that he would show the pictures to his friends, and he would put the pictures on his website so that the whole world can see them.
There was something special about the parade this year—many Chinese people came to watch the parade, as if the parade took place in Chinatown. They took pictures with the band members, and praised their performance.
An old Chinese couple who were visiting their son in Montreal said to the band members: “You are excellent. We followed you all the way. You are the best.”
The old couple pointed to the banner in front of the band, which read “Falun Dafa,” and said: “The Chinese Communist Party is about to crash soon. Everybody knows that in China. Chinese people understand that the Communist Party does not serve the Chinese people. We will witness its crash. We also wish you luck.”
Since the band needed to participate in another Canada Day parade in Ottawa right after this parade, they asked the organizers if they could be positioned near the front of the parade. The organizers answered that since the band had been warmly welcomed by the spectators in the previous years, they should be the last group to conclude the parade.
