2 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 10, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival back in Queens!
Renewing a tradition that dates back
thousands of years to ancient China, the
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival this
weekend at Flushing Meadows Corona
Park promises to provide two days of
excitement, entertainment and culture to
thousands of Queens residents.
Th e festival kicks off with an opening
ceremony on Saturday morning, Aug. 12,
and wraps up with the U.S. Dragon Boat
Open Championships the following aft ernoon.
Along with exciting dragon boat
races contested on Meadow Lake, the festivities
also include an array of musical and
martial arts performances, dancing, storytelling
for children, arts and craft s, booths
staff ed by sponsors and many community
based organizations
Th e observance of this historically rich
festival that takes place every year on
the fi ft h day of the fi ft h lunar month,
fi rst began in Manhattan in 1990 on the
Hudson River in Battery Park. Now in its
27th year, everyone can expect a memorable
day suitable for the entire family -- with
free admission..
According to organizers, more than 214
teams and more than 2,500 participants
from across the United States and Canada
are expected to participate in the dragon
boat races. NEW events include six
new 10-person boats and several championship
races including the 20th Hong
Kong SAR Anniversary Invitational; the
Municipal Invitational featuring teams
representing local elected offi cials and government
agencies; invitationals for seniors
and women; and the Hong Kong Family
Invitational.
Th is year’s Youth Race promises to be
one of the most exciting yet, with 9 teams
from the New York DCH Dragon Boat
Club, the BTHS Dragon Boat Club, the
New York Wall Street Dragons and Woo
Tang Clan all competing for top honors.
Th is year’s Corporate Invitational features
16 teams racing not just for bragging
rights but also $12,500 to their favorite
charities.
Sunday’s U.S. Dragon Boat Open
Championships feature some high stakes,
with the grand prize including eight roundtrip
air tickets to Hong Kong provided by
Delta, one of the festival’s many sponsors.
New York DCH Dragon Boat Club, HSBC
United and CYPN Storm, last year’s top
three teams, are back to defend their titles.
Beyond the racing, there’s plenty of
amazing attractions guests can enjoy. Th e
Main Stage will feature traditional Chinese
arts, martial arts demonstrations, the
Dragon dance, musical performances and
folk arts and craft s demonstrations. Th ere’s
also an international food court and sponsor
booths, many of which will be giving
away promotional items.
For more information on the Hong
Kong Dragon Boat Festival, visit http://
www.hkdbf-ny.org/
Th e Queens Courier is among the many
media and creative partners of the Dragon
Boat Festival, which also include WNBCTV,
the New York Daily News, Sing tao
Daily News, GoodNews Broadcast.com,
MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting, Fusia
Media Commmunications, Inak Design,
Yelp and Blank Slate Media.
Also sponsoring the event are the Hong
Kong Economic and Trade Offi ce of New
York; HSBC Bank; Con Edison; New
York Community Bank; Toyota; Shanghai
Community Bank; NewYork-Presbyterian
Lower Manhattan Hospital; NewYork-
Presbyterian Queens Hospital; Nielsen;
Flushing Bank; UPS; AARP; Delta; Cathay
Bank; iTALkBB; Verizon; Macy’s; DKMS;
Vallo Transportation Ltd.; Flushing
Meadows Corona Park; Queens Chamber
of Commerce; the Offi ce of the Queens
Borough President; NYC & Company; and
the Queens Tourism Council. Additional
support is provided by the Hong Kong
Tourism Board and GEICO.
dragon boat festival 2017