#InTheLoop | Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival Comes Roaring Back!
BY QEDC It's In Queens
To celebrate the Year of the Tiger, support the borough’s economic recovery, promote Covid vaccination, and prevent anti-Asian hate crimes, the 2022 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York will return to Flushing Meadows Corona Park over the July 30-31 weekend.
Of course, competitions are also on tap with more than 100 teams vying for glory and bragging rights in invitational, youth, open, company, and nonprofit categories. Each crew, consisting of paddlers, a drummer, and a steering person, will power colorful teak boats with carved dragon heads in Meadow Lake, NYC’s largest body of water.
On shore, vendors will sell food and beverages while sponsors (HSBC is the biggest) and community-based organizations provide giveaways and interact with the public. Professional storyteller Jonathan Kruk headlines a diverse entertainment roster that includes martial arts demonstrations, music, crafts, and the traditional dragon dance (naturally).
Admission is free, and activities will proceed from 9 am to 5 pm with morning and afternoon races and a July 30 opening ceremony set for noon. Rain or shine.
Launched in 1990, HKDBF-NY is the oldest and largest dragon boat festival in the United States. Before Covid, it attracted as many as 30,000 attendees and 2,000 participants each year.
Dragon boat racing evolved from a Hunan folktale about Qu Yuan, a poet who allegedly drowned himself in the third century BC to protest his emperor’s policies. As he sputtered in a river, local residents jumped into boats to rescue him. As they paddled, they had to beat drums and makes splashes to scare away dragons and other animals. Yuan died, but a tradition was born.
Editor’s note: There is a parking lot near Meadow Lake, but it will probably fill up quickly. HKDBF-NY attendees are advised to take the 7 train to the Mets-Willets Point station and transfer from there to MTA shuttle buses that will go directly to the Meadow Lake area and back throughout the two-day event.
Info: HKDBF-NY