36 THE QUEENS COURIER • DRAGON BOAT • AUGUST 5, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
dragon boat
Photo by Dean Moses
Teams compete in Queens for return of racing festival
BY DEAN MOSES
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Th e dragon boats are back in Queens!
Water racers competed on July 31 and
Aug. 1 in time attack trials one week
before the iconic Dragon Boat Festival —
a more than 30-year tradition celebrating
international culture and sportsmanship
in New York — returns to Flushing
Meadows Corona Park.
Th e Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival
began in New York in 1990 and has
grown exponentially since that time,
transforming into a multinational sporting
event that brings competitors from
all over the world.
Aft er a one-year hiatus due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the dragon boat
races and multicultural festival will
return in a condensed, one-day format
on Saturday, Aug. 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Th e July 31 and Aug. 1 time trials decided
the qualifying teams for Saturday’s
races.
Henry Wan, chairman of the Hong
Kong Dragon Boat Festival’s board, told
amNewYork Metro that this year’s revelries
will focus on three major issues:
the reopening of businesses, addressing
Anti-Asian and other hate crime
issues and promoting vaccinations/public
health and safety.
“We are a nonprofi t, so we have to
serve the community when it is needed.
We decided to do something this year, it’s
important that we get back to normal,”
Wan said. “We are an outdoor, open-air
event, and we are very careful, and we
can only admit those who are fully vaccinated
or have a negative COVID-19 test
within 72 hours.”
Wan shared that the festival will be
held in two controlled locations: the
fenced-in Boat House for the races as
well as the enclosed Model Airplane
Field by Meadow Lake. With the ability
to check-in attendees, the event is free
and open to the public, per proof of vaccination
or negative COVID-19 test.
While capacity will be limited, the
occasion will still host presentations on
the main stage to showcase traditional
Chinese arts, music, dance and other
ensembles. Additionally, instead of hosting
a food court, there will be food
trucks, as well as booths staff ed by sponsors
and other community organizations.
About 20 teams who were faithful supporters
of the festival were given personal
invitations this year to compete.
During the time attack, these teams were
able to gather together for a day of practicing
their alignment, speed, form, and
overall gauge their abilities on the long
wooden boats.
For Jackson Koo, the Dragon Boat
competition has been a long-standing
tradition for himself and his team from
Con Edison. Although he was disappointed
that last year the event was canceled
due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
he looks forward to seeing his friends
and competing once again on Aug. 7.
“Th e team looks forward to this multicultural
event every year. Th roughout
the diffi cult year we’ve had, it’s just great
to be outdoors and to see each other,”
Koo said, sharing that he has been participating
in the dragon boat competition
for 18 years.
Diversity, camaraderie, teamwork and
plain old fun are some of the many attributes
competitors and attendees use to
describe the dragon boat competition —
and it’s what keeps them coming back
every year.
The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival invited 20 teams to compete.
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