Dragon boat festival – (May 2006)
Thursday, January 4th, 2007The dragon boat festival is celebrated during the month of may. Dragon boats are sleek long boats rowed by a team of about 20 or more men. the boat has a dragon head at its front a drummer sitting in front gives the oarsmen the tempo/rythm for rowing. The festival is celebrated with a dragon boat race
There is a story associated to this festival. Long ago there lived a rightful minister. The king once did not follow the advice of the minister. Deeply insulted, he died by jumping into the river. Later the king realised his mistake and to remember the minister organised this festival. People row the boats in the river and throw rice into it. This was done to scare away the fishes so that they don’t eat the remains of the rightful minister.
The festival was held at the dansui river. Our spirits were high when we went to the venue as we thought there might be something interesting (probably a dummy race for the visitors) but we were slightly dissapointed. The festival had the look of a sunday market, games and lot of eateries. One particular game had a long line of participants: it was to balance a egg on its lengthier side, yes there were quite a few winners. The festival ended with a boat race and an display of acrobatics by students.
Guru