Dragon Boat Festival draws 50,000

For Andy Chan, being the team captain of the “Healthy Youth, Healthy Living,” Dragon Boat team, which was made up of 15-18 year-old summer employees from the Chinese American Planning Association, the result of the race was not important.
“The feeling you get when you finish the race is amazing,” said Chan, whose team finished second in their first race on Sunday, August 5 as part of the 17th Annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in Meadow Lake at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. “Last year we crashed, so I was really psyched about our performance.”
The Healthy Youth, Healthy Living team, which was sponsored by the Queens Chamber of Commerce, was one of 150 teams that participated in the festival, which brought competitors and spectators from throughout the world to Queens for the weekend.
While some teams had been training for the event, which handed out nearly $15,000 in prizes, since the moment last year’s ended, others like the Healthy Youth, Healthy Living team decided to participate for different reasons.
“We try to promote that kind of community involvement within our group,” Chan said. “We have a blast whenever we are together.”
Throughout the weekend, which saw sweltering temperatures on Saturday, but less humidity and bright sunshine on Sunday, Henry Wan, Chair of the Host Committee for the Festival, estimated that more than 50,000 spectators attended the event.
“Obviously the big crowd put a lot of pressure on the staff, but they came through with flying colors,” Wan said.
In addition to the races each day, the crowd was treated to musical performances, a dumpling eating contest and a variety of other entertainment activities that kept attendees busy all day.
Wan said that the festival’s momentum and success, specifically throughout the past two years, only gives him more optimism for the future.
“Between the team participation and the spectators and judging by the sponsorship growth, we are very excited about next year,” Wan said.