On 30 August 2026, Melbourne welcomed its annual celebration, the “Hurstbridge Wattle Festival.” Golden flowers, brilliant sunshine, and the sounds of an outdoor market blended together, suggesting that winter was fading and spring was gently knocking at the door.
That day, residents and visitors took to the streets, browsing markets, sampling food, enjoying live music and various performances, with crowds gathering at multiple community venues throughout the Hurstbridge township.
The event ran from 10am to 4pm, featuring markets, music, and diverse food stalls. A historic steam train operated between Hurstbridge and Eltham, while Scottish Highland Games, vintage car displays, and the “Hursty Hustle” fun run attracted participants of all ages.
Amid the bustling festivities, the Falun Dafa booth stood like a peaceful sanctuary — a bright blue backdrop adorned with delicate floral tones, with paper lotus flowers “blooming” across the display table. Practitioners dressed in golden yellow shirts demonstrated the five exercise sets to gentle music, their movements graceful and unhurried, their expressions serene and peaceful, drawing onlookers to pause and watch.
The booth also featured a colourful paper lotus folding activity, where children chose their favourite colours and crafted flowers under volunteer guidance. Multicoloured paper gradually transformed into blooming lotuses in the children’s hands, each one becoming a unique creation reflecting its maker’s own colour combination.
Encountering Falun Dafa: Visitors Hope to Restore Beautiful Lives
Visitor Jennette Quirk said that her body is currently in a recovery phase, and she therefore wanted to learn more about Falun Dafa, hoping to find ways to maintain her physical and mental wellbeing. She said, “If you believe in something, then you can make it happen,” but “you must first have that belief.”
Quirk strongly agreed with the “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” principles promoted by Falun Dafa. She believes that bringing these values into the community is greatly important for it.
Terry Fitzpatrick, who came with Quirk, felt lost after losing a loved one in May of this year. She explained that coming out with her friend today was also about emerging from that difficult period and feeling the support brought by community groups.
Fitzpatrick admitted she had been occupied with other matters and had neglected caring for herself. Now she is learning to pause and slow down her pace of life. She and her friend visited the Falun Dafa booth hoping to find ways to reduce stress and rediscover life’s beauty.
Residents Speak Out for Falun Dafa Practitioners
Holly Thompson was visiting the Wattle Festival for the first time, and despite her young age, she shared her own thoughtful perspectives. She noted that the festival features many activities suitable for children and families, as well as food and various stalls. She particularly loved the lotus flowers at the Falun Dafa booth. After learning about the message opposing persecution that they conveyed, she said that practitioners who follow “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” face persecution and even loss of life, which is genuinely “really very unfair.”
Holly wished to tell those suffering persecution and separated from their families: “Please stay strong, do your very best.” She expressed happiness seeing practitioners living freely in Australia, a free country where people “won’t be persecuted just for doing what they want to do.”
Isabella Taylor, who accompanied Holly, said it was “really very sad” to see people lose loved ones because of their faith, especially since they had “actually done nothing wrong.”
Regular Wattle Festival attendees Isla Marshall and Evelyn Grawe noted that having people from different places gather together is very important for the community.
Grawe believes that Falun Dafa’s “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” principles guide people back toward tradition. She explained that amid technological advancement, people are gradually losing the habit of building genuine human connections. She said: “If we spend more time communicating with others, feeling and experiencing the world around us, the entire society becomes better.”
She deeply admired the practitioners’ efforts in kindly sharing Dafa with the public through various means, finding “this is a very beautiful thing.” “How wonderful if the world had more tolerance,” Grawe said.
Marshall also noted that with the rise of social media and artificial intelligence, contemporary society contains much superficial content, making a renewed emphasis on sincerity and genuine human connection all the more important.
The Hurstbridge Wattle Festival began in 2004 and is held annually on the last Sunday in August, celebrating Australia’s natural environment, culture, and community life. Though held online in 2020–2021 due to the pandemic, the festival attracted over 15,000 participants when physical activities resumed in 2022, establishing itself as an important annual community event.
The wattle — a variety of acacia — is one of Australia’s most representative native plants and the nation’s official floral emblem, its golden flowers complementing Australia’s green-and-gold colours. The 1st of September is National Wattle Day, celebrated across Australia with this beloved native plant at its heart.
Translated and summarised from Epoch Times (Chinese edition), 30 August 2026.
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