Sat-Sun June 28-29: Dragon Boat Races

• What: Dragon Boat Races
• When: Sat and Sun June 28th and 29th
• Where: Quiet Waters Park (Deerfield Beach)

(source: http://soarteam.murphyslawfirm.net/index.php)

Sat May 31: Dragon Boat Races

• What:  Miami Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival
• When: Saturday May 31
  • Racing 8am-5pm
  • Festival 10am-5pm
• Where:
  • 777 Brickell Ave
    Miami, FL 33131
    (Brickell Ave S.E. 8th Street)
• Website: http://www.miamidragon.com/festival.html
• Contact: miamidragon@bellsouth.net

What is the purpose of the festival?

The purpose of the annual Miami Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival is to promote the sport and tradition of dragon boat racing, sharing this dramatic aspect of Asian culture with the greater Miami community. Proceeds from the Dragon Boat Festival will go towards promotion of dragon boat racing in Miami and toward charitable activities. The Dragon Boat Festival is also a way of encouraging Miamians to become more physically fit, while enjoying the outdoor opportunities of our city.

HISTORICAL FOLKLORE – DRAGON BOAT

Traditionally held on the fifth day of the fifth moon on the lunar calendar — late May to mid June on the solar calendar (June 3rd this year) — the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the life and death of the ancient patriot-poet Qu Yuan who lived from 340-278 B.C.. Qu Yuan was a minister who advocated reforms in his home state of Chu. The King refused to listen to Qu Yuan’s advice and instead banished him from the state of Chu. In exile, Qu Yuan wrote poetry expressing his concern for his country and people. In 278, when Qu Yuan heard that his home had been invaded, 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 zung-ze, steamed rice wrapped in reed leaf, into the river as a sacrifice to his spirit and to keep the fish from Qu Yuan’s body.

Since that time, some 2,000 years ago, dragon boats are raced on rivers in China and people throw zung-ze into the river to honor the memory of Qu Yuan. Even before Qu Yuan, the fifth moon was a time of danger. With the hot and wet weather of the summer came the perils of plagues and diseases. Chinese people consider themselves to be the descendants of dragons and so during the fifth moon feel it is appropriate to paddle boats with dragon designs and make sacrifices of zung-ze to cajole the river dragons.

(source: http://www.miamidragon.com/about.html)