You are reading

Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival Returns Saturday at Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Participants racing at a previous Hong Kong Boat Festival (Photo provided by Rick Ho)

July 26, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

The annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival will roar back to full strength at Flushing Meadows Corona Park this weekend.

The event, which is the oldest and largest dragon boat festival in the United States, will take place on July 30 and 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attendance is free and the event will take place rain or shine.

This year’s Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival will be the first time the event will be held at full capacity since 2019. The festival was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic and organizers held a restricted, one-day version last year. The event also coincides with the Chinese Year of the Tiger.

Organizers say they want this year’s unrestricted festival to symbolize the re-opening of the Queens economy following multiple lockdowns since March 2020.

More than 2,000 rowing crew members are expected to race through Meadow Lake on colorful boats which are designed with dragon heads at the front and sleek dragon tails at the back. Each boat is piloted by up to 20 crewmen, including 18 paddlers, a drummer and steers person.

The participants will be propelling the one-ton, teak boats forward by paddling in unison as the steer barks out directions and the drummer beats their percussion instrument in sync with the paddling.

They’ll vie for thousands of dollars in cash, prizes such as plane tickets, and pride in vessels sponsored by multi-national corporations, athletic groups, local nonprofits, and government agencies.

Divisions include the Regular Open, Corporate Invitational, Sponsors Challenge, Seniors Invitational, Women’s Invitational, Media Challenge, Educational Invitational, and the Municipal Invitational, which will include crews from the NYPD, FDNY, and elected officials. There will also be a Corporate Youth Invitational and Charity Race.

Each boat is piloted by up to 20 crewmen, including 18 paddlers, a drummer and steers person (Photo provided by Rick Ho)

There will be plenty to do on dry land, as well. A cultural program featuring live music by the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York will also be held, along with martial arts by the New York Shaolin Temple, plus tales from professional storyteller Jonathan Kruk. There will also be dragon dancers performing.

Sponsors and community-based organizations will also have booths for giveaways, with food trucks also available to serve food.

An opening parade kicks off the festivities on July 30 at noon, while racing starts at 9 a.m. and runs until approximately 5 p.m. on both days.

Organizers are hoping the festival can draw around 30,000 spectators over the weekend, as it did prior to the pandemic.

Festival organizers will also aim to promote COVID prevention with workers from the New York State of Health on-site offering vaccines and testing. The event, organizers, say, also seeks to inform the public about the rise in hate crimes and various city agencies will be on hand to provide information on how to tackle the problem.

Special MTA shuttle buses to and from the festival site will be available at the Mets-Willets Point 7 train station.

Dragon Boat racing dates back to 278 BC during the Ming Dynasty.

According to legend, Qu Yuan, a poet and court minister jumped into the Ni Lo River in Hunan Province to protest his emperor’s policies. Local fishermen rowed their boats out to save him, while people on shore beat drums and splashed oars to scare away flesh-eating dragons. Yuan drowned, but a tradition was born.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Rego Park sex offender pleads guilty to charges of sexually exploiting young girls on Long Island: Feds

A convicted sex offender from Rego Park pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and admitted to soliciting and receiving sexually explicit images and videos from four young girls during a plea hearing in the federal courthouse in Central Islip on Friday. Anthony Pangallo, 41, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment and up to 50 years in prison.

According to court filings and statements during the plea proceeding, Pangallo was initially arrested on May 20, 2021, at his Rego Park residence, on state charges filed in Westport, Connecticut. Those charges, which remain pending, involved a 15-year-old victim whom Pangallo met online and manipulated into sending him sexually explicit images of herself.

Queens Together launches ‘Unofficial US Open Dining Guide’ encouraging fans to sample restaurants along the 7 line

Aug. 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

The US Open returns to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this Sunday, with more than 1 million attendees anticipated to take mass transit to the iconic annual tennis event. With hundreds of thousands of fans set to take the 7 out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there is a world of delicious local eateries lying beneath the elevated train tracks should any fan wish to stop en-route to the US Open.

Can Queens’ food scene thrive with both trucks and restaurants?

Aug. 19, 2025 By Jessica Militello

In Jackson Heights at 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, Roosevelt Avenue is buzzing with energy as commuters file in and out of subway cars and onto the street and cars and trucks grapple to get down the busy road. The street is filled with rows of shops and restaurants, along with food carts, street vendors and food trucks along the avenue. The almost-but-not-quite the weekend lag leaves hungry commuters faced with another choice to make throughout their day and the array of food truck options in busy areas like Jackson Heights offers customers convenience and delicious food without breaking the bank, two features that can feel vital, particularly with rising costs of living and pressure from inflation.