52 THE QUEENS COURIER • DRAGON BOAT • AUGUST 1, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
dragon boat
Dragon Boat Festival returns to Flushing Meadows Corona Park
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@qns.com
@QNS
Dragons are coming to Meadow Lake
in Flushing Meadows Corona Park this
weekend.
Th e 29th annual Hong Kong Dragon
Boat Festival begins in Flushing Meadows
Corona Park this Saturday, Aug. 3, and
Sunday, Aug. 4. Th e festival will be replete
with live entertainment, international
foods, arts and craft s, 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 Th e Seniors
Invitational, Th e Media Challenge and Th e
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 craft smen in Hong Kong.
Colorfully painted with a dragon head at
the front and a dragon tail at the back, the
boats are staff ed by 18 paddlers, a steer person
and a drummer to keep the pace.
Some of the fi ercely competitive races
will be in the name of a good cause.
Competitors in Th e 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 offi -
cially kick off the event for attendees at
noon on Saturday. Th e 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.
The FDNY team cheers after fi nishing their race at the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Bestival in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in 2018.
Katz, who has released 10 albums of his
own and who has appeared on 70 others,
has a strong connection with Th e
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.
Th roughout 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
fi rst 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 fi shermen nearby raced
out into the water to try to save him. Th ey
splashed their oars in the water to prevent
fi sh from eating the patriot’s body and
threw rice dumplings into the water, an
off ering to the poet’s spirit.
Th e fi shermen could not save Qu Yuan
but a new tradition was born.
And aft er 29 years, the Hong Kong
Dragon Boat Festival in New York has
become a tradition unto itself, while
remaining true to its origin.
Th e fi rst Dragon Boat Festival in New
York took place in 1990 on the Hudson
Photo by Christina Santucci
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.Th
e 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 Offi ce, HSBC
Bank, Toyota, Con Edison, New York
Community Bank, Shanghai Commercial
Bank, Flushing Bank, UPS, Sterling Bank,
Queens Chamber of Commerce, the
Offi ce of the Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz and the Hong Kong
Tourism Board.
Visit hkdbf-ny.org for more information.
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