2 The Queens Courier • dragon boat • august 4, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com dragon boat festival s DRAGON BOAT Famed Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival 2016 returns to Queens this Saturday! By Brianna Ellis bellis@qns.com/@briinformed It’s time to get ready for the highly anticipated Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Flushing Meadows Corona Park next month! Rain or shine, the 26th annual sporting and multicultural weekend kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 6 and Sunday, Aug. 7. Come enjoy great food, activities and more for free. The yearly event commemorates the fifth moon, also known as the fifth month, of the lunar calendar. Guests will have an exciting weekend filled with traditional Chinese dishes, performances and more than 120 dragon boat teams from all over North America. Winners of the competitive sport will earn cash prizes, trophies and other awards. Don’t forget to visit the opening day parade starting at noon on Saturday, Aug. 6. The festival first began in 1990 on the Hudson River in Battery Park City, organized by its main sponsor Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York City. Today, the family-oriented festivities are run by an independent, nonprofit company, receiving sponsorship from corporate giants like HSBC, Emblem Health, Toyota and others. Devour diverse food from the International Food Court - Carlos Segarra BBQ: Chew corn-on-the-cob, shish kabobs, grilled meats, fresh fruits and juices. - Chifle: Munch on freshly grilled chicken, potato wedges, rice, finger foods and drinks. - T-Bar: Consume steamed dumplings, zongs, fish bars, fresh fruit smoothies and cut fruits. - Match Crepes Cake: Can you handle a 21-layer cake? - Bruce Cost Ginger Ale: Guzzle down unfiltered ginger ale made with 100 percent fresh ginger and pure cane sugar. The six flavors are original, pomegranate, jasmine tea, passion fruit, blood orange and low calorie with monk fruit. - Encore: Choose from a variety of pork chop bao, pork belly bun, soy sauce drum sticks, Yangzhou fried rice, chrysanthemum tea or soda and water. - Lemonade Stand: Sip on freshly squeezed lemonade with top ingredients and fresh lemons. - Ice Delights Concessions: Cool down with a cup of Sno-Biz shave ice - Golden Fortune: Enjoy samples of Cho Fus crackers and cakes; King CarsYogofresh yogurt drinks and Mr. Brown coffee drinks; Century Pacific’s canned sardines; URC’s Jack n Jill potato chips; Rebisco’s Choco cracker sandwiches, Super Stix wafer sticks, Ding Dong mixed nuts, Happy peanuts, Cupp Keyk cupcakes, and Fudgee Barr chocolate barsplus products from Monde M.Y. San and Cenmaco - Joe’s Crab Shack: Deep-sea diving into shrimp, crawfish, crab dip/ chips and “Great Balls of Fire.” - Great Northern Product: Partake in Sacred Lotus Leaf Herbal Tea and Lotus Seed Juice. Get creative at the Arts & Crafts Tent At the fun-filled Hong Kong Dragon Boat festival, 15-plus artists will demonstrate traditional Chinese crafts consisting of calligraphy, rice doll making, bead stringing, kite making, jeweled ornaments, ribbon flowers, paper cutting and more. Children are encouraged to participate in creating their own crafts. Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk will entertain children throughout the day with “Dragon Tales,” a story about extraordinary monsters from Asia and afar, performed dramatically for families at the festival. The children will have roles in the stories, acting out the adventures of dragons who fly, grant wishes, change shapes and race! Kruk is best known for his spooky solo show of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” watched by thousands of people. He has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America and the National Geographic Channel. The proclaimed “Best Storyteller in the Hudson Valley,” who earned a Parents’ Choice Award, usually performs in Queens schools. At the nonprofit tent, you can obtain information on programs and services from Carnegie Hall, Queens Library, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Queens Botanical Gardens, New York Hall of Science, United States Department of Agriculture, Asian Long Horned Beetle Cooperative Eradication Program and Queens Theater. How could we forget? Dragon boat races! Last but not least, the cultural festivities would not be complete without these awesome dragon boat races! The U.S. Dragon Boat Open Championship Race is on Sunday but racing takes place on both days from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Dragon boat races are derived from a Chinese legend of Qu Yuan, an ancient patriot-poet who lived from 340-278 B.C. As a court minister, he advocated reforms for his hometown of Chu and was forced into exile by the king of Chu. In 278 B.C., Yuan discovered that his home had been invaded and jumped into the Ni Lo River, where he drowned. According to the legend, local fisherman raced out to the river to save him and threw rice dumplings in the water to avoid fish from eating his body. This is how dragon boat racing was established and now the dragon boats come to life from Buddhist blessings. The heads and tails of the dragon boats are attached and other rituals take place. After the races, it is customary to dedicate the day to street theater, traditional Chinese dance performances, martial arts and other cultural demonstrations. Today’s dragon boats have drastically developed from four teak wood dragon boats to more than 30, which are often made of fiberglass. All of the boats are approved by the International Dragon Boat Federation for international dragon boat racing. The 2016 racing prizes will include six round-trip tickets to Hong Kong provided by DELTA and six two-night stays provided by the Regal Hotel in Hong Kong. Some of the exciting parts of the race include the Hong Kong Family Invitational, the Hong Kong Business Invitational, the Hong Kong Educational Invitational and the Municipal Invitational race with various teams. Invitations were sent to elected officials Mayor de Blasio, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, Congresswoman Grace Meng and Assemblyman Ron Kim’s office to collaborate as a team. The public figures would be joined by NYC government agencies: The New York City Police Department, Fire Department, Parks Department and Department of Environmental Protection. Check out the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival’s website, hkdbf-ny.org, for more information.
QC08042016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above