(Minghui.org) The Riverfront Jazz Festival sponsored by the City of Albany’s Office of Cultural Affairs was held at Jennings Wharf on the Hudson River on September 6, 2025. Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) practitioners set up a booth where they demonstrated the exercises, which drew many spectators. The mayor visited the event and welcomed all attendees.
The festival brought together renowned local jazz masters, acclaimed emerging artists, and beloved local bands and singers. A wide variety of booths were featured, bringing together families and friends from the community to enjoy the music, sample a variety of delicious food, and learn about Falun Dafa.
Practitioners introduced Falun Dafa at the Riverfront Jazz Festival in Albany on September 6, 2025.
Many people stopped to watch as practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises. Two women came to the booth and listened to a practitioner explain the practice. One woman took a video with her cell phone and said she had over 1,000 followers in her Facebook account. She said she wanted to share the peaceful exercise demonstration and information about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Dafa in China with more people.
Local TV Station Covers the Event
A reporter from Bangla TV (BTV) also interviewed practitioners about the benefits of practicing Falun Dafa in improving health, the widespread spread of Dafa across the world, and the CCP’s persecution. He recorded the entire interview and said he planned to broadcast it.
The head of the local Bangla TV station (in red) listens as a practitioner describes Falun Dafa.
A young couple from Sydney, Australia, who were visiting relatives in Albany, and an elderly local woman, stopped by the booth to chat with practitioners. One mentioned that a relative lived in China for years and was well aware of the CCP’s cruelty and atrocities. They all were outraged by the CCP’s 26-year-long persecution and deeply concerned about the plight of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Just as the event was underway, the sky suddenly darkened and heavy rain poured down. After a while, the storm subsided, and the sky was clear again. Practitioners resumed their exercise demonstrations, and some people braved the rain to visit the Falun Dafa booth to watch and learn about the practice.
People learned about Falun Dafa and watched the exercise demonstration.
A middle-aged man named Bob stood in front of the booth, quietly holding up his phone to film the practitioners demonstrating the exercises. He told a practitioner that he obtained Falun Dafa’s main book Zhuan Falun several years ago but never learned the exercises. Seeing the peaceful and harmonious movements at the music festival made him feel deeply connected and happy. He also diligently photographed information about group exercises and exercise instruction at a local park, and said he hoped to join them.
Bob (right front) takes video of the exercise demonstration.
Visitors Wish to Learn the Practice
A hairdresser named Brittany passed by the Falun Gong booth with a group of friends. She stopped and chatted with a practitioner for a long time. She said that a family member suggested that she learn how to meditate. She was deeply inspired by the many benefits of meditation, and said she’d been living in a negative energy field and didn’t want to continue like that. She decided to give herself some quiet time to improve her physical and mental health through meditation.
Brittany (left) wishes to improve her health through meditation.
A couple came over and the woman named Sarah V. asked, “Do you have a practice site at the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing? I work at the botanical garden, and I often see many people practicing. I envy them so much.” Her friend, Christopher, said he’s always been interested in Eastern qigong and Tai Chi. After listening to a practitioner describe the benefits of practicing Falun Dafa, and how it improves health and elevates one’s mind, he happily told the practitioner that he lived in Albany and hoped to learn the exercises at the park.
Emergency Medical Team Members Sign Petition
The Mohawk Ambulance Service booth was next to the Falun Dafa booth. It is the largest emergency medical service in the New York state capitol area.
After carefully listening to practitioners introduce Falun Dafa and learning how the CCP persecutes practitioners, the director said she was shocked by the CCP’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from practitioners. She signed a petition urging the Senate to pass the Falun Gong Protection Act. She then took a signature board to her team and explained the signature collection. Each of her team members signed the petition.
One of the emergency medical workers said, “We save lives. As long as there’s a glimmer of hope, we never give up. The CCP’s atrocity of live organ harvesting is intolerable.”
Public Supports the Falun Gong Protection Act
After hearing about Falun Gong, a young woman who designs and makes handmade jewelry said, “My godmother is from Guizhou, China. I love Chinese culture. Forced organ harvesting is horrific.” She not only signed the petition herself but also asked her friend to sign. She asked, “Do you have social media?” Upon hearing that practitioners set up dedicated accounts to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution, she immediately went online and exclaimed, “I can just share the content! That’s great! How many signatures do you need? I’ll help you collect them!”
Two men who visited the booth listened quietly. One asked some questions about Falun Gong and said that his mother was a Buddhist. He believed that his mother and Falun Gong practitioners were kind people, and he happily signed the petition for the Falun Gong Protection Act. A man who was listening beside them also signed the petition.
An elderly American man who spoke fluent Chinese came to the booth. Pointing to the words on the banner, he enthusiastically read “Falun Dafa is good!” and greeted them. He smiled and said he had lived in China for 30 years and was very familiar with Chinese culture. A practitioner asked if he knew about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. He nodded, his face solemn, and said, “I know,” while making a gesture like someone being killed, his tone revealing both helplessness and indignation.
An American man who spoke fluent Chinese signed the petition urging the U.S. Senate to pass the Falun Gong Protection Act.
He said he lived in Beijing for three years and witnessed the June 4 massacre in 1989 firsthand. He shook his head repeatedly, saying, “The CCP is modern-day fascism!” When the practitioner explained how the CCP used certain media outlets to spread disinformation and repress the Shen Yun Performing Arts Company in the U.S., he said he was a loyal reader of the New York Times. The practitioner immediately handed him some information about Shen Yun, and after a moment’s thought, he accepted a copy. Before he left, the practitioner talked about collecting signatures to support the passage of Senate Bill 817, the Falun Gong Protection Act. He hesitated for a moment, and then solemnly signed the petition.
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