HUNTINGTON BEACH - The 102nd parade for Independence Day took place in beautiful Huntington Beach in sunny Southern California, which brought a 3-day long celebration to its grand finale.
"Freedom for All" was the theme for this year's parade. There were more than 300 groups joining in the parade, and the on-site audience was estimated at 250,000, with a TV audience surpassing 3 million.
The tradition for this popular July 4th parade stretches back 102 years to 1904, the year Huntington Beach was founded, and the parade is the largest west of the Mississippi.
Huntington Beach is also internationally known as "Surf City" and "Surf City U.S.A" for its beach surfing and surfing competitions, and is located 40 miles South of Los Angeles. Scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., people were already gathering before 6:00 a.m. along the parade route. Before 9 a.m., the parade watchers had already formed a 4 mile-long, 6 layer-deep, mass of humanity along the parade route on Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street.
The procession included floats, marching bands, Knights on horses, veterans' groups, and various performing teams. It took 3 hours for the parade participants to complete the 4-mile long course.
There was a 5000 meter race before the start of the Parade, and a fly-over with F-16 military jets marked the start of the parade.
Actress Shirley Jones and her husband, comedian Marty Ingels, served as grand marshals. "This was one of the best," said city spokeswoman Connie Young, "It's been a terrific celebration."
Falun Gong's Parade Entries
This was Falun Gong's 3rd consecutive year as participants in the parade. Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) is an ancient form of qigong, the practice of refining the body and mind through special exercises and meditation.
Among Falun Gong's entries were a marching band, martial arts team, traditional Chinese dance group, and a float. It was one of the larger parade teams, and was the only group consisting of mainly Chinese participants.
San Francisco's Falun Gong "Divine Land Marching Band" played "America the Beautiful" and "Falun Dafa is Good." It had an uplifting effect as the audience responded with applause. The band was recognized with a first place trophy. More than 20 additional Falun Gong practitioners from southern California participated as members of the martial arts team. During multiple demonstrations, with poles in their hands, they jumped and turned with precision, providing insight into this ancient form of Chinese culture.
Albert Roman, a Hermosa Beach resident, participated in the martial arts group; "This is the first year we've included martial arts. We chose to demonstrate a stick form." Roman along with about 23 others in sky-blue Kung Fu uniforms, each wielding a wooden staff, performed in quiet unison along the noisy parade route.
 ANOTHER FIRST PLACE TROPHY: Float with huge, pink Lotus Flower, accompanied with "celestial maidens" and demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises. (The Epoch Times)
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 MARTIAL ARTS: Demonstrating a "stick form" of Chinese martial arts with precision movements. (The Epoch Times)
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The float was decorated with a huge eye-catching pink lotus flower, and was accompanied with celestial maidens in beautiful, traditional Chinese costumes. The five sets of slow-moving Falun Gong exercises were demonstrated on the float throughout the parade. According to Robert Liu, one of the organizers of Falun Gong's entry in the parade, "Many Falun Gong practitioners, on a volunteer basis, dedicated themselves day and night to the completion of this float. Among so many workers, Mr.Yan, a professional artist, put in almost a whole month designing and welding the boat, seeking the most suitable color, and painting the lotus flower."
Falun Gong's float received a first place trophy in the "Service Float" category. Amigos de Bolsa Chica received the second place award and Golden West College/Huntington Beach Hospital won the Float Sweepstakes award for best overall float.
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