The 3,000 paddlers who will race at the Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival on Saturday and Sun- day range in age from teenagers to people in their 70’s. They are stu- dents, secretaries, surgeons, and CPA’s. They live in big cities and small towns. But they have one important thing in common – their shared passion for dragon boating, a sport that began more than 2,000 years ago in China. In addition to being fun, dragon boat races are seen as having impressive benefits. Participants express it differently. Corporate teams talk about how the dragon boat experience fosters teambuilding among employees. Breast cancer survivors say that to- gether they are stronger than they’d be as individuals. “When we introduced dragon boating to the Riverfront in 2001, we saw it as a fun activity that could involve groups of people,” says Charlie Myers, Riverfront Recap- ture’s Director of Events and Pro- grams. “We never expected it to grow into a two-day event the way it has.” This year’s field of 92 teams and 3,000 paddlers is the biggest yet. “With more entries in this year’s race than ever before,” Myers says, “the Hartford-East Hartford River- front has established itself as one of the most popular dragon boating sites in the United States. “We’re pleased that 34 club teams from six states, including dragon boat hot spots like New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston, have reg- istered for the races,” Myers says, “and we are especially encouraged by the participation of 58 local teams, representing a cross-section of the community – corporations, government, and nonprofit groups.” This weekend’s dragon boat racers are carrying on a tradition set by Chinese villagers who believed that dragon boating protected members of the community from unfriendly sprits of the seas – blessing the com- munity with happiness and prosper- ity. According to legend, a popular Chinese poet and statesman named Qu Yuan was expelled from office by unscrupulous ministers. In a dra- matic protest against political cor- ruption, Qu Yuan drowned himself in the Mi Lo River. Local fishermen rushed out in boats to try to save him – and to prevent his body from being eaten by fish. They beat drums, Hartford News Volume XXXV Hartford’s Only City-Wide Community Newspaper Number 15 The August 15 – 22, 2013 FREE Riverfront One Of Most Popular Sites For U.S. Dragon Boating Dancers, Drummers, And A Martial Arts And Fitness Expo Among Asian Festival’s Highlights Continued on page 3 While dragon boat paddlers com- pete on the river, Mortensen River- front Plaza in downtown Hartford will blossom with the colorful sights and sounds of Asian cultures during Riverfront Recapture’s Dragon Boat and Asian Festival on Saturday and Sunday, August 17 and 18. “We have scheduled two full days of authentic Asian performances, rep- resenting many Asian cultures,” says Jessica Leone, Riverfront Recap- ture’s Public Events Manager. Festi- val entertainment runs from 10am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday. All performances will take place on the plaza. (A complete schedule of per- formances can be found on page 3.) Returning by popular demand this year is Dance China NY, an award- winning group of dancers and musi- cians from New York City, who electrify audiences with their per- formances. New to the festival this year is LiLiu, a Chinese acrobat, and a performance by Lao American Cul- tural Heritage. Several local organizations also are performing, including UConn Taiko, a Japanese drumming group from the University of Connecticut, the Chi- nese Culture Center from East Hart- ford, which will include Chinese classical instruments in their perform- ances, and Asian Performing Arts of Windsor, which will perform a tradi- tional dragon dance for the festival’s opening ceremonies as well as Chi- nese classical GuZheng. The Martial Arts and Fitness Expo will include Wushu, Tai Chi, and Kung Fu demonstrations – per- formed by experts from the Hartford region. New this year are demonstra- tions by Downtown Yoga, Hot Hula Fitness, Aikido Hartford, and more. Festival-goers who work up an ap- petite watching all that activity can choose from a variety of Asian food vendors, who will offer Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and Vietnamese del- icacies for sale. Children are invited to participate in an arts and crafts booth where they can make a variety of crafts to take home or get their faces painted, all free of charge. The Teach Art 2 Me booths are open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm on the plaza. Jennifer DeCristofaro, author of Lucky Bamboo Crafts, will in- struct children in a dragon boat craft and sign copies of her book for pur- chase. “The richness of the vibrant cos- tumes, many of which come from Asia, combine with the music and dance to transport spectators to a dif- ferent part of the world,” Leone says. “For two days, the Asian festival transforms the Riverfront into a cele- bration of Asian cultures and intro- duces our guests to sights and sounds that maybe they have never seen or heard before. And it’s all free.”
Transcript
The 3,000 paddlers who will raceat the Riverfront Dragon Boat andAsian Festival on Saturday and Sun-day range in age from teenagers topeople in their 70’s. They are stu-dents, secretaries, surgeons, andCPA’s. They live in big cities andsmall towns.But they have one important thingin common – their shared passionfor dragon boating, a sport thatbegan more than 2,000 years ago inChina. In addition to being fun,dragon boat races are seen as havingimpressive benefits.Participants express it differently.Corporate teams talk about how thedragon boat experience fostersteambuilding among employees.Breast cancer survivors say that to-gether they are stronger than they’dbe as individuals.“When we introduced dragonboating to the Riverfront in 2001,we saw it as a fun activity that couldinvolve groups of people,” saysCharlie Myers, Riverfront Recap-ture’s Director of Events and Pro-grams. “We never expected it togrow into a two-day event the wayit has.” This year’s field of 92 teams and3,000 paddlers is the biggest yet.“With more entries in this year’s
race than ever before,” Myers says,“the Hartford-East Hartford River-front has established itself as one ofthe most popular dragon boatingsites in the United States.“We’re pleased that 34 club teamsfrom six states, including dragonboat hot spots like New York City,Philadelphia, and Boston, have reg-istered for the races,” Myers says,“and we are especially encouragedby the participation of 58 localteams, representing a cross-sectionof the community – corporations,government, and nonprofit groups.” This weekend’s dragon boat racersare carrying on a tradition set byChinese villagers who believed thatdragon boating protected membersof the community from unfriendlysprits of the seas – blessing the com-munity with happiness and prosper-ity. According to legend, a popularChinese poet and statesman namedQu Yuan was expelled from officeby unscrupulous ministers. In a dra-matic protest against political cor-ruption, Qu Yuan drowned himselfin the Mi Lo River. Local fishermenrushed out in boats to try to save him– and to prevent his body from beingeaten by fish. They beat drums,
Hartford NewsVolume XXXV Hartford’s Only City-Wide Community Newspaper Number 15
The August 15 – 22, 2013
FREE
Riverfront One Of Most PopularSites For U.S. Dragon Boating
Dancers, Drummers, And A MartialArts And Fitness Expo AmongAsian Festival’s Highlights
Continued on page 3
While dragon boat paddlers com-pete on the river, Mortensen River -front Plaza in downtown Hartfordwill blossom with the colorful sightsand sounds of Asian cultures duringRiverfront Recapture’s Dragon Boatand Asian Festival on Saturday andSunday, August 17 and 18.“We have scheduled two full daysof authentic Asian performances, rep-resenting many Asian cultures,” saysJessica Leone, Riverfront Recap-ture’s Public Events Manager. Festi-val entertainment runs from 10am to3pm on Saturday and Sunday. Allperformances will take place on theplaza. (A complete schedule of per-formances can be found on page 3.)Returning by popular demand thisyear is Dance China NY, an award-winning group of dancers and musi-cians from New York City, whoelectrify audiences with their per-formances. New to the festival thisyear is LiLiu, a Chinese acrobat, anda performance by Lao American Cul-tural Heritage. Several local organizations also areperforming, including UConn Taiko,a Japanese drumming group from theUniversity of Connecticut, the Chi-nese Culture Center from East Hart-ford, which will include Chineseclassical instruments in their perform-ances, and Asian Performing Arts ofWindsor, which will perform a tradi-tional dragon dance for the festival’sopening ceremonies as well as Chi-
nese classical GuZheng.The Martial Arts and Fitness Expowill include Wushu, Tai Chi, andKung Fu demonstrations – per-formed by experts from the Hartfordregion. New this year are demonstra-tions by Downtown Yoga, Hot HulaFitness, Aikido Hartford, and more. Festival-goers who work up an ap-petite watching all that activity canchoose from a variety of Asian foodvendors, who will offer Chinese,Thai, Japanese, and Vietnamese del-icacies for sale. Children are invited to participatein an arts and crafts booth where theycan make a variety of crafts to takehome or get their faces painted, allfree of charge. The Teach Art 2 Mebooths are open on Saturday andSunday from 10am to 3pm on theplaza. Jennifer DeCristofaro, authorof Lucky Bamboo Crafts, will in-struct children in a dragon boat craftand sign copies of her book for pur-chase.“The richness of the vibrant cos-tumes, many of which come fromAsia, combine with the music anddance to transport spectators to a dif-ferent part of the world,” Leone says.“For two days, the Asian festivaltransforms the Riverfront into a cele-bration of Asian cultures and intro-duces our guests to sights and soundsthat maybe they have never seen orheard before. And it’s all free.”
2 13th Annual Riverfront Dragon Boat & Asian Festival
Club Teams Vie To Represent U.S.At World Dragon BoatChampionships In Italy
While club teams paddling in Sunday’s dragon boat races on theRiverfront certainly want to win their divisions, many of them will havetheir eyes on a bigger prize – qualifying points to represent the U.S. at the2014 World Championship in Ravenna, Italy.The Eastern Region Dragon Boat Association (ERDBA) has sanctionedthe Riverfront Dragon Boat & Asian Festival as a race where club teamscan earn points towards a spot in next year’s world championship.And the Riverfront Dragon Boat & Asian Festival has the distinction ofbeing the largest ERDBA point qualifier. Club teams can earn up to 60points – because the Riverfront event includes 1000M and 2000M races inaddition to the more typical 200M qualifiers and 500M semi and final raceswhere clubs can earn no more than 15 points.“As a result, spectators can expect to see some of the most competitiveteams in the country battling it out at this year’s Riverfront Dragon Boat &Asian Festival,” says Randy Ng, Chairman of the ERDBA RaceCommittee.On every odd year, clubs in the ERDBA race for the opportunity to rep-resent the United States Dragon Boat Federation at the InternationalDragon Boat Federal Club Crew World Championship the following year. Race Divisions span from Youth (age 13-18) to Grand Dragons (age60+). Within each division are three categories, including Women, Open,and Mixed. Depending on the race venue, each division and category isgiven the opportunity to win points based on each distance they participatein.“We have 34 club teams coming to the Riverfront from Massachusetts,New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont to com-pete in Sunday’s races,” says Charlie Myers, Riverfront Recapture’sDirector of Events and Programs. “And with qualifying points on the linefor a possible world championship berth, this will be no ordinary day ofracing.” “We welcome those 920 club team paddlers to the Riverfront,” Myerssays, “and wish everyone a safe, successful experience in what we expectwill be hotly-contested races. It’s going to be fun to watch.”
Anytime Fitness
Bushnell Park Foundation
Chinese Culture Center
Chinese Language School of GreaterHartford
Common Law, Uncommon Paddles
CRT Dragon Wave
Downtown Yoga
Dragon Fire
Dragon Heart
Dragon Slayers
FM Dont Panic
FM Insta-Gator
Foley Fire
Gilbane Cast-A-Ways
Glastonbury Chamber Paddlers
Goodwin College Navigators
Greater Hartford Jaycees
Hartford Police Explorers
Henkel One 'Swimmers'
Henkel Two 'Boaters'
Hunger Heroes
HYPEsters
Lincoln Financial Group
MMI Wyvern Warriors
MTU Aero Dragons
National Association of Asian AmericanProfessionals
Paddle Oar Die
Roaring Dragons
Ship Faced
Sikorsky Asian American Association (SAAA)
SMC Swaggin' Dragons
Swashbucklin' Scallywags
Team ESPN
Tsunami Tserpent Tslayers
Turnpike Motors Autobody
Aetna Blazing Paddles
Aetna Dragons Fire
Aetna Law Shock & Awe
Aetna Sync or Swim
Aetna Take a Bow
Aetna Unified Elements
Aetna’s Blades of Glory
Aetna’s Eye of the Dragon
Get Aetna Get Healthy
City of Hartford Mayor Segarra's Team
City of Hartford The HHS Enterprise
East Hartford Dynasty
Hartford Steam Boiler Steamin' Dragons
MassMutual MassAttack Team 1
MassMutual MassAttack Team 2
MDC Water Dragons
Pratt & Whitney Fei Long
Pratt & Whitney PurePower
Team Riverfront
The Hartford StagOn
The Hartford Staggering Dragon
UTAS Blazing Paddles
UTAS Bridge Dodgers
1. Club - Mixed Division(22 Participants)
DCH Laker Mercer ........................Corona, NY
DCH Racing 1 ................................Corona, NY
DCH Racing 2 ................................Corona, NY
Dragonheart Vermont Strong....Burlington, VT
Dynamic Paddlers ...................Norristown, PA
Electric Dragons.......................Rego Park, NY
Goldman Sachs Tritons.............New York, NY
Harvard Dudley .....................Cambridge, MA
Ithaca Gorges Dragons...................Ithaca, NY
Living Root Blue.....................Dorchester, MA
Living Root Red......................Dorchester, MA
13th Annual Riverfront Dragon Boat & Asian Festival 3
thrashed the water with paddles, andthrew rice dumplings into the riverto appease the water dragon.In that rescue attempt, the sport ofdragon boating was born. Dragon boat racing was confined
to Chinese fishing villages until1976, when an effort began in HongKong to introduce dragon boat rac-ing to other countries. In 1982, theUnited States Rowing Associationwas asked to start a dragon boatteam. A group of rowers in
Philadelphia decided to give it a try.The following year, in 1983, thatfirst team from the United Stateswent to Hong Kong – and finishedsecond behind the Chinese team.In 1990, the International DragonBoat Federation was formed and
held its first World Championshipcompetition in 1995. In 2001, morethan 20 countries from around theworld competed in the WorldDragon Boat Championship racesin Philadelphia – and dragon boatsmade their first appearance on the
Hartford-East Hartford Riverfront.“Now we’re welcoming 3,000paddlers for a fun weekend of rac-ing,” says Myers. “Dragon boatinghas come a long way in the world –and on the Riverfront.”
Continued from page 1
Riverfront One Of Most Popular Sites For U.S. Dragon Boating
4 13th Annual Riverfront Dragon Boat & Asian Festival
