The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, also known as Duan Wu Jie. People eat zongzi and watch the dragon-boat race, which this year is June 22th 2023.
The Dragon Boat Festival originated in ancient China (278 BCE) to commemorate Qu Yan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River in Hunan Province. He was a loyal minister of the King of Chu and one of the greatest poets. The famous Dragon Boat Races are held in traditional paddled longboats, each ornamented with a dragon’s head at the front of the boat. The races are a symbol of how the local people attempted to recover the body of Qu Yuan. The tradition of racing boats and dropping rice into the river continues today. The races themselves can trace their roots back to 2500 years during the Warring States Period (402-221 BC.) These races along the Yangtze River in Southern-Central China were folk rituals designed to appease the rain gods, encourage rainfall, and celebrate summer rice planting.
The 44th Annual Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival was held on June 11th, 2023. It is the oldest Dragon Boat Festival in North America, founded in 1979. Located by John W. Weeks Footbridge on the Charles River, between JFK Street and Western Avenue, this year’s festival features 64 teams, with over 1500 paddlers from all over Massachusetts, New England, the US, and the world. They competed in ten category groups with special races and medals for Collegiate, Finance, Corporate, Health Care, Chinese University Alumni, Women, Club, Community, Youth, and All Cancer Survivor divisions. Spectators saw brightly colored, 40 foot, Hong Kong style dragon boats race through a 500-meter course up the Charles River from the Western Avenue Bridge to the John W. Weeks Footbridge.
The 2023 Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival Grand Champion was Boston 1, with the winning time of 2:06.357. Sampan spoke head coach, Lily Ting. She described that Boston 1 is a volunteer-led organization seeking to foster and promote the sport of Dragon boating in Greater Boston. It has welcomed over 500 people of all fitness levels from all walks of life and nationalities since founding in 2013. Members come from diverse backgrounds…including USA, Canada, Australia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Germany, France, and Belgium. She said that the technique is challenging and takes a while to master, so those who like problem solving will have a lot of fun…[E]very person in the group of 20 paddlers is important and contributes equally to the boat..we train hard together, we feel the same challenges… and therefore the accomplishment we feel for ourselves and our team members is very unifying. What I love about Dragon Boat racing is that anyone can do it regardless of age, gender, or nationality… It’s such a life enriching experience.
2023 Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival Results
The specialty challenge winners from June 10.2023 Saturday
Women: ONE Kakou
Collegiate: Harvard China Dragon
Peter Lew ACS Memorial: Empire Dragons NYC
Corporate: Trapology Boston
Peter Murray Youth Memorial: GBCCA Ligers
Health: Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA Blue Dragons
University Alumni: Tsinghua Alumni
Finance: Loomis Sayles
Community: HKETO NY DragonRiders
Club: BTBC Titans – Leopard
Final “A” Division from June 11.2023 Sunday
- Boston 1 Premier (The grand champion )
Time: 2:06.357 - Wolfpack Racing Club
Time: 2:07.302 - CUPN STORM
Time: 2:08.233 - BTBC Titans –Leopard
Time: 2:09.515
More information, please visit: https://www.bostondragonboat.org
