Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival In New York

The crack of dawn on the coming day
The anticipation of the race
The camaraderie of friends and teammates
The thrill of competition
Muscles and sinew tensing
The adrenaline rush of the start
The power of the paddle pushing the water
The smoothness of a new boat gliding the surface
The heat of the sun on your face
The sounds of your breath & beating heart
The taste of lake water on your lips (ew)
Time compresses and slows down
The urgency to reach the final buoy
The exultation of crossing the finish line
Mission accomplished
Breathe
— «Ruminations of a Dragon Boater»

In 2004 chill-​laxing at World’s Fair Marina, I saw in the distance a odd looking boat skimming the waves on man-​power alone. I followed the pier, approached and spoke to some of the team members. They explained they were training, and they even offered if I wanted to take a turn. It stuck with me.
I never caught the Festival until 2014, it was a great experience in terms of culture and teamwork. The Festival in Flushing occurs Saturday and Sunday on Meadow Lake. There are many different vendors selling food, souvenirs, etc. Beautiful kites filled the sky. Performances of martial arts, live music, comedy etc.
I had no problem finding a water front spot to practice some photography with my old DSLR D50. The park is just really massive. Other park-​goers set up BBQ pits, spread blankets, and enjoyed the event from a distance. The event is a great way to spend the weekend with family and friends.
Most of the team members are in good shape likely do to the rigors of training. I even saw a team representing Goldman Sachs. I think I’d like to inquire about joining a team =)
*Dragon Boat History
source:
Dragon Boat racing is based on a legend of the ancient patriot-​poet Qu Yuan who lived from 340 – 278 BC. He was a Court Minister who advocated reforms for his home state of Chu. The King of Chu, however, disliked him for it and banished him from the state.
In exile, he wandered the country writing poetry expressing his concerns for his homeland and its people. In 278 BC when Qu Yuan heard that his home had been invaded, he jumped into the Ni Lo River and drowned himself.
Legend has it that local fishermen raced out to the river to save him, but couldn’t. To prevent his body from being eaten by the fish, they threw rice dumplings into the water as an offering to his heroic spirit. This was the beginning of Dragon Boat Racing.

The Hong Kong Dragon Boat festival happens once a year and features the best dragon boaters in NY. It’s always a lot of fun watching the boats race. The park is pretty large so there is plenty of room to get a front row seat of the races.
In addition to the races, there are also a lot of tents giving out free things and activities for kids. Definitely a great family event! The festival also has a lot of the Chinese culture in it as well, with everything from lion dances to dance performances.

Hot, crowded and had to park very far away. This event has the potential to be very good but needs to be organized better !!

Completely agree with other 2 reviews. It took us 1 ½ to get there from Manhattan just to find lots of garbage all over the place, flying in the wind and getting on the adjacent highway (with the risk of covering someones windshield and causing car accident).
Sponsors were too many and garbage came from their crappy freebies: Balloons, paper fans, empty plastic cups, fliers etc. Really sad, they should get their own people to pick up trash around their tents.
Boat race would be fun if the boats were closer to the viewers. We walked to the other side, away from the sponsors, near the teams’ tents. We had to use binoculars to see what is going on.
No Chinese culture, food or anything… just lots of cute kids flying kites.
Bring a big hat, your own food, lots of water, binoculars and plan on wasting your whole day.

I just got back from the festival; it’s my second time in four years, but my husband and I definitely won’t be back. There’s little to no shade in this park, the events/​performances are poorly organized, and there aren’t any activities there besides watching cute neighborhood kids fly kites. No festival is complete without food, and I counted exactly five stands, three of which weren’t even Asian, much less Chinese. As much as I enjoy Mexican food, to make a comparison, I don’t go to Renaissance Festivals to eat sushi or the Caribbean Festival in Prospect Park to eat Belgian waffles, if you know what I’m sayin’.
Also, for an event that supposedly «honors» Chinese traditions, and the Chinese-​diaspora community in Queens, the announcers spoke entirely in English, not one word of Mandarin or Cantonese the whole time we were there. Not even a «hello,» or anything like that to set the tone, and make the people in the crowd (mostly Chinese immigrants who spoke exclusively in various Chinese dialects) feel welcome. A majority of the corporate sponsors didn’t have Chinese-​speakers working their stands, and thus were clearly wasting their resources, if they couldn’t even communicate with their target consumers. Overall, I felt the festival was shoddily executed, and very insulting to a culture it supposedly honored. Most people didn’t look like they were having a good time at all, and it’s not hard to see why!

I’ve been to the same event for 2 years, other than watching the dragon boat racing, there’s really nothing much there even though there’s many sponsors and ventors trying to promote their bussiness. The race itself is taking very long time for round after round, and the announcement is not very loud and clear so we don’t really know which boat belongs to what team. The food vendors are horrible there, not only it’s pricy, but also limited selections ranging from dumplings, curry rice, shaved ice, kebabs, and bubble tea. The only two freebies i found this year were 711 chicken wings and dunkin donut’s ice coffee and icy. i think most of the peoper there were to support their teams and team members. If you have nothing planned on the weekend, you can go check it out, but don’t think i’ll go back next year if i have other plans.