Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival returns
Popular event comes back to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this weekend
Photo by Dean Moses
BY JACOB KAYE
Dragons are coming to
Meadow Lake in Flushing
Meadows Corona Park
this weekend.
The 29th annual Hong
Kong Dragon Boat Festival
begins in Flushing Meadows
Corona Park this Saturday,
Aug. 3, and Sunday, Aug. 4.
The festival will be replete
with live entertainment,
international foods, arts and
crafts, and traditional dragon
boat races.
Races will run from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. both days of
the festival. Over 200 teams
and 2,500 participants will
compete in the U.S. Dragon
Boat Open Championship,
the main race. In addition
to the championship races,
several special races, like
The Seniors Invitational,
The Media Challenge and
The Municipal Invitational,
will give onlookers plenty
of opportunities to view the
diversity of the colorfully
decorated teak boats.
Each boat weighs one
ton and is custom made by
craftsmen in Hong Kong.
Colorfully painted with a
dragon head at the front and
a dragon tail at the back,
the boats are staffed by 18
paddlers, a steer person and a
drummer to keep the pace.
Some of the fiercely
competitive races will be in
the name of a good cause.
Competitors in The Charity
Race will each contribute $2,500
to put in the charity fund. In
the end, approximately $15,000
will be donated to various
New York charities, chosen by
participating teams.
While the dragon boat races
may be the main event, a host of
other activities will be available
during what is the oldest, longest
and most traditional dragon boat
festival in the United States.
As the racers gracefully
splash through the lake,
an opening day parade
will officially kick off the
event for attendees at noon
on Saturday. The parade
will feature a dragon dance
performance from Yee’s
Hung Ga International Kung
Fu Association and opening
remarks from the festival’s
emcee Pei-sze Cheng of NBC 4
New York.
In addition to the opening
ceremony entertainment,
there will be a host of other
dance and music performances
to grace the stage throughout
the weekend.
Echo Music Jam Band,
a collaboration between
musicians in the Echo music
scene, will captivate audiences
with their wide range of
sound, including pop, rock,
alternative and metal music
on Saturday.
Also taking the stage
Saturday – Dance China New
York, a touring dance company
comprised of dancers from
China, Taiwan and the U.S.;
Rosedale, an EDM artist with
an international presence;
School of Rock, a classic rock
group made up of talented
students; and the NY Shaolin
Temple Kung Fu Association.
Sunday’s performance
will be equally captivating,
featuring the Chinese Music
Ensemble of New York,
Mariachi Aguila y Plata, Gong
Music, Flamenco Latino and
the legendary keyboardist
Bruce Katz and his band, the
Bruce Katz Band, who will be
headlining the main stage.
Katz, who has released 10
albums of his own and who
has appeared on 70 others,
has a strong connection with
The Allman Brothers Band,
having toured with the classic
rock band a number of times.
Additionally, Katz was a
member of Gregg Allman’s
Band for six years and Butch
Truck’s Freight Train Band
for several years.
Throughout Saturday
and Sunday, Jonathan Kruk,
a master storyteller, will
tell fables, myths, medieval
legends and lore of the Hudson
River. Kruk will also share
the story of how dragon boat
racing first got its start.
Legend has it, dragon
boat racing began around 300
B.C. with a poet and activist
named Qu Yuan, who lived in
the Chu state during the Zhou
dynasty. A frequent critic of
his government and its king,
Qu Yuan, was sent into exile.
While away, Chu was
invaded. Feeling helpless to
help the home he loved, Qu
Yuan drowned himself in the
Mi Lo River in 278 B.C.
As an activist, leader and
poet, Qu Yuan was loved, and
fishermen nearby raced out
into the water to try to save
him. They splashed their oars
in the water to prevent fish
from eating the patriot’s body
and threw rice dumplings into
the water, an offering to the
poet’s spirit.
The fishermen could not
save Qu Yuan but a new
tradition was born.
And after 29 years, the Hong
Kong Dragon Boat Festival
in New York has become a
tradition unto itself, while
remaining true to its origin.
The first Dragon Boat
Festival in New York took place
in 1990 on the Hudson River
near downtown Manhattan.
Several years later, it was
relocated to Flushing Meadows
Park, where it remains to
this day.
Each year, thousands of
people descend on the park to
witness tradition come to life.
The Queens Courier and
QNS.com is one of many media
and creative partners of the
Dragon Boat Festival.
Other sponsors include
the Hong Kong Economic
and Trade Office, HSBC
Bank, Toyota, Con Edison,
New York Community Bank,
Shanghai Commercial Bank,
Flushing Bank, UPS, Sterling
Bank, Queens Chamber of
Commerce, the Office of the
Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz and the Hong
Kong Tourism Board.
Visit hkdbf-ny.org for
more information.
TIMESLEDGER,QNS.COM AUG. 2-8, 2019 27
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