A local group that promotes traditional Chinese culture and values will host a Dragon Boat Festival in the Town of Mount Hope on June 18. Organizers said that the event, which coincides with Father’s Day, will offer a fun and unique experience for the whole family.
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duan Wu Festival, actually falls on June 22, four days after Father’s Day, this year; the holiday falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
“We provide a channel for Orange County residents—including Mount Hope, Otisville, and Middletown residents—to come out to meet their neighbors,” Mela Wu, president of the Mount Hope Chinese Association, which is hosting the event, told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times.
“The whole family will have a great time.”
The event will feature vendors selling food and drinks, jewelry, precious stones, clothing, and health products, as well as educational and nonprofit organizations, and activities for all ages, Wu said.
“There will be fun games for children, and performances that showcase traditional Chinese music and dances,” she said.
The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the major Chinese traditional festivals, which include the Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, and the Moon Festival. The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated by holding dragon boat racing, eating “zong zi,” which is sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, and hanging calamus and wormwood leaves on doors and windows to dispel pestilence.
This event will be somewhat different, Wu said. “Although we won’t have a dragon boat race on the river, we will have several handmade dragons to race on land, which will be fun.”
Chinese Legend
According to one legend, Qu Yuan (340–278 B.C.) was a prominent poet and court official of the Chu State of the Warring States Period (476–221 B.C.), during which the Qin State was one of the most powerful (there were seven warring states: Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei, and Qin). Qu Yuan advised his king to unite the Qi State to fend off the Qin, but Qu Yuan was slandered by other officials and accused of treason. The king dismissed Qu Yuan’s advice and exiled him to a remote rural area.Upon learning that the Qin had conquered his country and captured the king of the Chu, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Miluo River (in today’s Hunan Province) on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The local people rowed out on the river, trying to save him, but it was too late. They also threw leaf-wrapped rice into the river to feed the fish so that they wouldn’t eat Qu Yuan’s body.
‘Unique Experience’
Wu encourages anyone who is interested in Chinese culture to come out for what she describes as a unique, moving, and enjoyable experience. “They will be inspired by it,” she said.
“Everyone can find something fun to do at the event. People of all ages can participate in the [simulated] dragon boat races. It is truly fun for the whole family.”
Admission to the event, to be held at Mount Hope Town Park in Otisville, is free.
Wu said that her group has successfully organized other events, including Chinese New Year celebrations in January.
“Our activities have truly brought the community together, and together we are stronger,” she said.
In addition to its mission to share traditional Chinese culture and values, the association aims to help Chinese Americans to better serve the American community through cultural exchange and social responsibility,” according to its website.
