Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival
This year the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival will be held on the Yarra River at Victoria Harbour, Docklands on Sunday 11 March 2007. The International Dragon Boat Festival is held annually in Melbourne, Australia. It is a celebration of Chinese culture and tradition.
The festival will begin with a traditional Buddhist blessing.
Dragon boats will be sporting colourful dragon heads and dragon tails. They will race with enthusiastic paddlers urged on by traditional drummers beating time and screaming encouragement all the way to the finish line!
When: Sunday, 11 March, 10am to 5pm
Where: Victoria Harbour, Docklands. Melway reference 2E E4.
Cost: Free
More information: [url="http://www.dragonboatfestival.net/"]www.dragonboatfestival.net[/url]
Source: [url="http://www.dragonboatfestival.net"]http://www.dragonboatfestival.net[/url]
This year the Melbourne International Dragon Boat Festival will be held on the Yarra River at Victoria Harbour, Docklands on Sunday 11 March 2007. The International Dragon Boat Festival is held annually in Melbourne, Australia. It is a celebration of Chinese culture and tradition.
The festival will begin with a traditional Buddhist blessing.
Dragon boats will be sporting colourful dragon heads and dragon tails. They will race with enthusiastic paddlers urged on by traditional drummers beating time and screaming encouragement all the way to the finish line!
When: Sunday, 11 March, 10am to 5pm
Where: Victoria Harbour, Docklands. Melway reference 2E E4.
Cost: Free
More information: [url="http://www.dragonboatfestival.net/"]www.dragonboatfestival.net[/url]
Quote:History of Dragon Boat Racing
The history of Dragon Boat Racing dates back to the 4th Century BC. At that time, in the kingdom of Chu , there was a minister by the name of Qu Yuan. Although much loved by the people, his king thought him foolish and had him expelled from his high position in the court. Unhappy and dejected, he wandered about the countryside writing poems about his love of his country and its people. Later, unable to bear all the sorrow, or perhaps as a final protest against the government, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Mi Luo River on the day the kingdom of Chu was conquered by the Kingdom of Qin.
Legend has it that local fishermen raced out with their boats in an attempt to save him but they failed. To prevent his body from being eaten by fish, they beat the waters furiously with their paddles and threw rice dumplings into the river as a sacrifice to his spirit.
The people continued the custom of commemorating Qu Yuan's death by racing dragon boats and throwing rice dumplings into the River each year. One night however, Qu Yuan appeared in a dream to one of his former associates and told him that the rice dumplings were easily washed away by currents so the fish ate the rice and he had nothing to eat. The next year the people made dumplings wrapped in reef leaves and tied up with silk thread ('Zongzi') to prevent the fish from robbing Qu Yuan of his food.
Source: [url="http://www.dragonboatfestival.net"]http://www.dragonboatfestival.net[/url]
