Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival returns this weekend with lots of special events and activities
Meadow Lake, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens
Saturday, August 7, and Sunday, August 8
Admission: free
718-767-1776
www.hkdbf-ny.org
According to legend, when poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BCE) drowned himself after learning about the destruction of his village, local fishermen first tried to save his life but failed, then tossed dumplings into the river to prevent his body from being fodder for the fish. This story is memorialized every August with plenty of dumplings and dragon boat races in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. This weekend, such teams as Dragonflies, Syngent Seadogs, the New York Wall Street Dragons, Women in Canoe, Let’s Sink Together, the Puff Puff Dragons, and Knit Illustrated will battle it out on the water. The weekend will also feature a host of special activities and live performances, including the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, Hsu-Nami, Malini Srinivasan and Her Dancers, Shaolin Kung Fu, Napua Davoy’s “Brave Cool World,” Carnegie Hall’s ACJW Ensemble, Morgan James and the Resistance, the Chinese Dance Company, Dana Leong and His Music, the American Bolero Dance Co., arts & crafts, face painting, and much more.