Over the weekend of August 4, students from the Cross-Cultural Internship Program (www.fusia.net) took part in the annual Dragon Boat Festival held in the Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Flushing, Queens, New York City. Students either took part as dragon boat racers or volunteered at booths set up at the festival.
The Dragon Boat Festival is an annual multicultural sporting event held in New York to celebrate the fifth month of the Lunar Calendar. It is one of the largest dragon boat events in the United States. This was the 22nd Anniversary of the Festival, which began in 1990 on the Hudson River in Battery Park City. It was first promoted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York City.
The weather was clear throughout the festival, with sunny afternoons and cool windy evenings. The dragon boaters, especially, were very delighted to experience no rain which would result in choppy waters.
Vincent Fung, a student of Lingnan University said, "We train together, live together, have our meals together. The team is like one big family now. Joining the Dragon Boat Festival as a competitor in the race has definitely added more color to my New York CCIP experience."
At the start of the race, one of the student leaders had gathered all the CCIP supporters and led them in a cheer for the CCIP dragon boat team. The students in the spectator stand were not left out of the excitement, cheering and clapping enthusiastically.
Many students also helped to tend the booths at the festival. They took the opportunity to mingle with festival guests and make new friends. The festival was brimming with Chinese festive cheer, and everyone, Chinese or non-Chinese alike were all having a ball of fun.
The Dragon Boat Festival was a great opportunity for the Asian community in New York to preserve and share their rich culture. It saw the greatest number of participants in its 22 years and was a huge, roaring success.
