(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners participated in the Bayreuth Festival on August 15, 2021. Established in 1194, Bayreuth is the capital of Upper Franconia. The Bayreuth Festival showcases the works of Richard Wagner, and the annual music festival has been held since 1876, drawing opera fans from around the world. 

As part of the day-long event, Dafa practitioners demonstrated the exercises, offered information in various languages about the spiritual practice, and told people about the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) 22-year persecution of Falun Dafa. Many people were drawn to the peaceful and soothing exercise music. Several people signed the petition calling on the German government to help stop the CCP’s live organ harvesting. Some expressed their wish to learn how to practice Falun Dafa.

People stopped by the practitioners’ booth and learned about Falun Dafa during the Bayreuth Festival on August 15. 

A woman from France was shocked when she saw the picture on the banner. She asked the practitioners for a flyer in French. After reading it, she immediately signed the petition. 

A middle-aged German couple passed by the stand and read the banners. The woman immediately signed the petition. Her husband asked the practitioners why the CCP would want to persecute Falun Dafa. After chatting with them, he said that many of the CCP’s actions are irrational. He explained that he felt uneasy, as his eldest son would soon be sent to China by his company to establish a branch in Shanghai. 

He worried that by going to China his son will inadvertently help the CCP regime. “We know that the CCP has a very bad record—from its theft of intellectual property rights to its human rights violations," he said. "We feel that we have a moral responsibility to help stop the persecution. Today we learned more about it. We will carefully consider and decline the company’s decision.”

Two young people stood in front of the display board for a long time, and read the information. Then they went to the booth and asked practitioners why the CCP wants to persecute good people. 

The young man said that he lives in Bayreuth. He often sees a certain practitioner (he pointed to a practitioner who was participating in the event) distributing leaflets in the city center. “He’s there almost every day, but I didn’t know what he was doing. I finally know today. Can we get another blank petition form? We will collect signatures from friends, and when it is filled, I will give it to that practitioner. I know where to find him.”

Two tourists from the Ukraine asked practitioners why they were holding the event. Because of the language barrier, a practitioner handed them a flyer in Ukrainian. After reading it, they immediately signed the petition calling for the disintegration of the CCP and the end of the CCP’s live organ harvesting from practitioners. 

Before they left, one said in broken English, “The Communist Party is bad, and we all hate it. The CCP is as bad as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and must be eradicated. People should not allow it to continue to exist in this world!"

A young German woman lingered for a while after signing the petition and watched the practitioners’ exercise demonstration. She told a practitioner, “This exercise is very good, and I really want to learn it. Do you have a practice site in Bayreuth? Where can I find you?” When the practitioner showed her the information for the local group practice site, she happily took photos with her mobile phone. She said that she would definitely go to learn the exercises.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance—as well as five gentle exercises, and experienced uplifted health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline's growing popularity as a threat to the CCP's atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, issued an order to ban the practice.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 22 years, though due to the difficulty in getting information out of China, the actual number is believed to be much higher. Many more have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.

Under Jiang's personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.