(Clearwisdom.net) The 40th Toronto Caribbean Carnival Festival opened on Saturday, August 4, 2007 at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. The two-week festival attracts over a million participants annually. Toronto's Divine Land Marching Band was the only Chinese band invited and was highly praised and welcomed by sponsors and guests alike.
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Recognition from Organizer and Guests
Chairman and Chief Executive of the Festival Management Committee Joe Halstead said that the participation of the Divine Land Marching Band made the festival even grander. He said, "We are very pleased that the Divine Land Marching Band has come here. Their participation makes a big difference to our festival."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty came to express congratulations. He felt the Chinese group's participation in the carnival enriched the Caribbean festival. He said, "I'm honored to have the Chinese community participate in the Caribbean festival. They have made great contributions and enriched the festival. It is a very good thing."
Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario John Tory said that it is good that the Chinese group participated in the carnival, which highlights multicultural characteristics.
Police Chief Bill Blair thought that such a celebration should be a celebration of people with different cultures, including the Chinese culture.
City councilor Adam Giambrone said that the Chinese community and the Caribbean community are two large and active communities in Toronto. He said, "People in Toronto have benefited greatly from the two communities."
Coordinator of the judges Terry Hing said that it is great that the Divine Land Marching Band could participate. She said, "We welcome their participation, and we are really very grateful to them."
Enthusiastic Spectators
Spectator Marianne liked the performance of the Divine Land Marching Band very much. She said, "They have outstanding artistic talent, I can tell they have put in much effort and practiced a lot. We really like it very much."
Ms. Liu handed out Falun Gong truth-clarification materials along the parade route. When seeing such a majestic and magnificent marching band pass by, people applauded, cheered and took pictures, and wanted to know more about the marching band. Many people stretched out their hands to get materials from Ms. Liu and read the truth-clarification materials on the spot.
The Divine Land Marching Band Members Introduce Falun Gong in the Sea of People
Marching Band member Wang Hongmin told the reporter, "Today, the parade participants were quite numerous. After we finished the parade, we distributed truth-clarification materials in the sea of people. We kept saying 'Falun Dafa is Good' to people hurriedly passing by, and many people took the materials. Later I was too busy to hand out materials, so I simply carried the materials in both hands and asked them to take a copy themselves. Some people wanted to learn more in detail, so I told them the website addresses for more information."
Mr. Xiang, who plays the clarinet in the marching band, said, "When handing out materials, many people could recognize us of from the Divine Land Marching Band. They were very friendly. Some people took the materials, thanked us and complimented our marching band."
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