London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival 2017 to be held in June

File photo of the London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival [Photo: official website of LHKDBF]

The London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival (LHKDBF) returns to the London Regatta Centre on June 25, promising a day of exhilarating boat-racing, great music, delicious food and a great chance to experience Chinese culture.

The event has been running every year for over a decade now and was originally organized solely by the London Chinatown Lions Club. These days the London festival is organized by the London Chinatown Chinese Association and the Hong Kong Executives Club with support from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office. Up to 10,000 people attend each year.

There is great history behind the Dragon Boat Festival, originating in ancient southern central China some 2,500 years ago.

With farming communities reliant on getting enough rainfall for the harvest, they would worship the dragon that symbolizes clouds, rain and water in the Chinese Zodiac. Each year before the wet season starts, dragon boat races would be organized in worship to the dragon.

Every year it falls on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese lunar calendar and the LHKDBF website describes it as ‘the second largest cultural event in the Chinese calendar, second only to Chinese New Year’.

On the day 40 teams will take to the water in specially made dragon boats to compete to win four cups on offer. Each team has one boat with 17 on board, 16 of which use paddles to propel the boat forward with the final member beating a drum.