(Minghui.org) The Opening Celebration Parade & Fireworks Show to celebrate the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games was held in Tacoma, Washington on June 12, 2026. As an official FIFA World Cup host city supporter, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians kicked off the festivities with a community parade and welcoming ceremony. The parade proceeded along Portland Avenue and ended at the Puyallup Tribal Administration, followed by a traditional welcoming ceremony and fireworks display.
More than 60 groups participated in the parade, including Falun Dafa practitioners fielding a waist drum troupe and a banner team. The entire parade route was lined with crowds of spectators.
Falun Dafa practitioners participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Opening Celebration Parade in Tacoma, Washington, on June 12, 2026. (Minghui.org)
Spectators enthusiastically applauded the banner team and the waist drummers, dressed in bright yellow exercise suits, as they marched past to a lively beat.
People Learn About Falun Dafa
Police officers stationed along the parade route warmly applauded the waist drum team, while some accepted flyers from practitioners.
The waist drummers and their music were warmly greeted by a community group, and the children sang along to the music. “All of us playing waist drums at the back heard it,” a practitioner said. “They were singing the melody, ‘Falun Dafa Is Good.’ Their joy truly moved me.” The music, the sound of the drums, and the children’s clear, bright voices intertwined—with some practitioners saying they were moved to tears.
The parade also featured a convoy of modified sports cars. Just before the procession began, a line of these sports cars happened to pull up alongside the waist drum team. The practitioners handed out flyers and hand-made origami lotus flowers to the drivers, who hung them on their cars.
Grateful Spectators
Parade spectators were also happy to accept the flyers practitioners handed out. Some pressed their palms together in front of their chests and bowed slightly as a gesture of gratitude.
“The spectators were delighted to received the flyers,” one practitioner said. “Many also took photos of us with their phones while reaching out for the flyers.”
Mr. Tian, who was orphaned in China, had been adopted by an American family when he was young and grew up in the United States. He talked with a practitioner for a long time and asked about Falun Dafa. He said he did not believe the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda he’d heard in elementary school in China. He asked for the link to the Falun Dafa website and said he would read the Dafa books online.
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