On August 13th and 14th, the 21st annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival took place on Meadow Lake in Queens. This traditional festival is a yearly Chinese rite commemorating the poet Qu Yuan, a third century BC martyr. The HKDBF-NY featured over 180 teams and 2,000 participants hailing from across the United States and Canada who competed throughout the 2-day festival. On shore, the record breaking crowd was entertained not only by the dragon boat races, but also by the large variety of multi-cultural performances ranging from demonstrations in the martial arts to music and traditional dragon dancing. In addition the festival provided a selection of other family-geared activities that focused on Chinese tradition.
For more information about HKDBF-NY, check out: http://www.hkdbf-ny.org/