(Minghui.org) The first Winnipeg Lantern Festival was held in Chinatown in Winnipeg on September 6 and 7, 2025. During this unique cultural celebration, local practitioners set up a booth to introduce Falun Dafa and raise awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. They talked to people, collected signatures, and performed the waist drums.

“Falun Dafa Is Good” Echoes Throughout the Festival

The festival was hosted by Manitoba Taste of Asia. The lantern parade, symbolizing light, hope and unity in the community, took place on the evening of September 6. The organizer arranged for the practitioners’ waist drum team to lead the parade, and said their powerful drumming highlighted the festival’s cultural heritage and inspired the participants.

Practitioners carrying banners that read “Falun Dafa” and “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance” walked at the front of the parade, which began at around 9 p.m. Their waist drum team, the only guest performer invited by the organizer, performed right behind them. Many spectators happily followed the parade.

As the rhythmic drumbeats and the song “Falun Dafa Is Good” resounded throughout the festival area, the crowd happily responded. Even after the parade ended, despite the late hour, visitors continued coming to the booth. Practitioners told them about Falun Dafa and explained the facts about the persecution. Many signed the petition that calls to end the CCP’s transnational repression and the state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from living practitioners.

The waist drum team performed again the next day for about 30 minutes at noon. They performed “Falun Dafa Is Good,” “Joyful Celebration,” “Heaven Eliminates the CCP,” and “New China.” The host introduced Falun Dafa before and after their performance. Some people clapped along with the drumbeat throughout the performances, while others danced to the music, expressing their joy. Some children took pictures with the waist drum team.

People stopped at the practitioners’ booth and signed the petition calling to end the persecution during the first Winnipeg Lantern Festival on September 6 and 7, 2025.

Practitioners’ waist drum team performs on stage during the festival.

People from China Withdraw from the CCP

Many people from China stopped at the booth and talked to practitioners during the two-day festival. They asked for various types of informational materials about Falun Dafa and the persecution, and some decided to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

A student from China said that he read online about the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners and was aware of the CCP’s human rights abuses. But his relatives in China told him that practitioners set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square. He was confused. When he saw the practitioners’ booth at the festival, he hoped to learn more. A practitioner told him that Falun Dafa rapidly spread in China through word of mouth, and that the CCP persecutes Falun Dafa and staged the Tiananmen self-immolation incident to slander the spiritual practice. The student and his friend accepted informational brochures.

A young man from China walked straight to the practitioners’ booth. A practitioner asked him whether he knew about withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. He said that he only joined the Young Pioneers. The practitioner told him about the persecution and showed him the picture of a stone which had the Chinese characters: “The Chinese Communist Party Will Perish.” Before he left, he said, “I don’t want to perish with the CCP. I’m withdrawing from it.”

A practitioner approached two young men and asked them to sign the petition. One of them happily said he was Chinese. The practitioner said, “Great! Let me get you some information in Chinese.” When the practitioner returned, they had already signed the petition. The practitioner told the young Chinese man that millions of Chinese have already withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. He said that he moved to Canada before graduating from high school and only joined the Young Pioneers while he was in China. The practitioner explained the importance of withdrawing from the Young Pioneers. He listened attentively and withdrew from the Young Pioneers using an alias.

People Sign the Petition Calling to Stop the CCP’s Forced Organ Harvesting

A woman came to the practitioners’ booth on the morning of September 6. She wanted to learn how to practice Falun Dafa and asked where the nearest practice site was. She told a practitioner that while she watched the live broadcast of the CCP’s September 3 military parade, she heard CCP leader Xi Jinping tell Russian President Putin that organ transplants can enable “immortality.” She was horrified when she realized that forced organ harvesting from living people is real and is happening. She signed the petition that call to end the forced organ harvesting.

Many local college students stopped by the practitioners’ booth during the festival and said this was the first time they heard of Falun Dafa and the persecution. After learning the facts, many of them signed the petition. Some asked for informational brochures and said they planned to share them with their classmates and friends and ask them to sign the petition online.

An elderly woman was saddened when she heard that practitioners in China were thrown into forced labor camps and sentenced to prison for upholding their belief, and she gave the practitioner a big hug.

During this two-day event, several hundred people signed the petition. Over one hundred people signed the petition postcards addressed to the Canadian Prime Minister. Many local residents said they admired practitioners after they learned about the persecution, and encouraged them to continue informing people.