Press Release: 44th Annual Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival

(Boston May 20th , 2023) Come celebrate with us the 44th Annual Boston Hong Kong Dragon
Boat Festival on Sunday, June 11th, 2023, from 12:00–5:00 PM rain or shine! The Boston Hong
Kong Dragon Boat Festival 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 will feature 64 teams, with over 1500 paddlers from all over
Massachusetts, New England, the US, and the world.  They will compete 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 will be able to watch brightly colored, 40 foot, Hong Kong style dragon boats as they
race on a 500-meter course up the Charles River from the Western Avenue Bridge to the John
W. Weeks Footbridge.
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The Dragon Boat Races start in the early morning and the cultural programs and festival will
begin at 12 Noon. All programs are free and family friendly for visitors. Sponsors, founders,
dignitaries and community members will dot the eyes of the dragon head on each boat in a
traditional Eye-dotting Ceremony. This is an ancient Chinese ceremony that is believed to
enable the dragon to soar with the utmost power. The Eye-dotting Ceremony will take place at
Noon at the docks with the accompaniment of a traditional Chinese waist drum dance on the
stage inside the large performance tent.

The Eye-dotting Ceremony will be followed by cultural programs, demonstrations and
performances in the performance, arts & crafts tents on the Cambridge side grassy areas along the river as well as our major sponsors’ promotional tents. There will be traditional Chinese
music, Chinese Yo-yo performance, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese and Indian Dance
performances, and returning favorites such as Dragon and Lion Dances, Chinese martial arts
and traditional Japanese Taiko drumming. Visitors young and old will find fun, inspiration and
cultural engagement with beautiful hands-on Asian arts and crafts. Come also to sample various
Asian foods featuring Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and more lining the side of Memorial Drive.

This year there is a special celebration that cannot be missed. A special delegation from
Hangzhou, China, will bring displays, demonstrations, and beautiful cultural artifacts from
China’s most beautiful city. What’s more, Hangzhou, Boston’s sister city in China, is donating a
new dragon boat to the festival. Beginning in 1981, this year marks the 42nd year of the two
sister cities’ relationship.
The festival committee is adding three new Hong Kong style dragon boats to our fleet. Besides
the boat donated by Hangzhou, two new boats are donated to the festival by Hong Kong
Economic and Trade Office in New York and Trapology Boston.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York returns as the title sponsor for the
Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office has been
our major sponsor for thirty years which included the purchase of the first six dragon boats in
our fleet.  Make sure to visit the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office booth at the festival for
souvenirs and activities, which is the most popular over the years.

The Boston Dragon Boat Festival is sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office,
City of Hangzhou, Trapology Boston, Bain Capital, CVS, Eastern Bank, Foxwoods Resort and
Casino, Gentle Giants, and South Cove Community Health Center, State Street, Mass Culture
Council, Blue Cross & Blue Shields, Magic Brush, Salesforce and Boston Dragon Boat Festival
Committee. We partner with Greater Boston Chinese Culture Association, Cambridge Arts
Council, Lexington High School as well as Mass Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Traditionally held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (late May to mid June on the solar
calendar), the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the life and death of Qu Yuan (340-278
BCE). A political leader of State of Chu, Qu Yuan is recognized as China’s first distinguished poet.
Qu Yuan lost the king’s favor and was banished from his home state of Chu because of his
opposition to the prevalent policy of compromise to the powerful state of Qin. In exile, he
wrote the poem, “Encountering Sorrow,” which shows a great loyalty to his state and its
people. In 278 BCE, Qu Yuan learned the news that Chu had been conquered by Qin. Heart
broken, he drowned himself in the Mi Lo River. The people of Chu rushed to the river to rescue
him. Too late to save Qu Yuan, they splashed furiously and threw zong-zi (traditional rice
dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) into the river as a sacrifice to his spirit and to keep the
fish away from his body.

Today, Dragon Boat Festivals and races are popular around the world. The first Dragon Boat
Festival in the United States was held in Boston in 1979, the first in North America. It is now the
largest Asian cultural festival in New England.  Just 10 years ago Boston had 22 community
teams now we have 54 community teams. Competitive club teams in Boston that race
worldwide jumped from 4 to 15. These are some of the examples demonstrating the drastic
growth of dragon boat racing as a sport nationwide and worldwide.

The Boston festival is used as a vehicle to promote Asian cultures and dragon boat racing, as
well as to bring diverse communities together in Boston and the surrounding areas. Every year,
around 30,000 people lined the banks of the Charles to enjoy the festivities and performances.​

Website
https://www.bostondragonboat.org

Social Media
https://www.facebook.com/BostonDragonBoat/
https://www.instagram.com/bostondragonboatfestival/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyXXAle3rXFRPisR6KukPiQ

For PR, other festival inquiries and media parking, please contact:
Gail Wang
617-259-0286
pr@bostondragonboat.org