Saint Paul, Minn. (July 6, 2010) – The 2010 Dragon Festival will be held this weekend, July 10-11, 2010, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Phalen Lake Park, 1530 Phalen Drive, St. Paul, MN 55106. The Dragon Festival is a two-day free event to showcase cultural heritage, entertainment and traditions of ethnic Asian Pacific Islander communities within the Twin Cities. This pan-Asian community event is to promote cross-cultural understanding and to keep the cultural heritage alive within the younger Asian population.
As a member of the all-volunteer planning committee puts it, “Most of us have kids who do not have as much exposure to their Asian heritage as we would like. It is important to generate interest for them to learn about their own cultures. We hope to pique their interest with the Festival, which features a fast-growing international sport such as dragon boat racing.”
New to this year’s Festival are a health walk and hip hop dance.
Blue Cross Blue Shields of Minnesota is proud to support the first annual 5K walk around Lake Phalen as part of the 2010 Dragon Boat Festival. Participating in the walk is a great way to get started on grooving your body every day to improve your overall health. All proceeds will go the Dragon Boat race. The do.® walk will be held on Saturday, July 10, starting at 9:00 a.m. There is a $10 pre-registration/$15 same day registration from 8 – 8:45 a.m. with prizes following. Download the registration form at www.dragonfestival.org.
A youth hip-hop performance and workshop event will be held on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. until noon. The event is meant to draw more early attendance to the Festival. There will also be other children’s activities for patrons throughout the day.
The Festival opening begins with an Awakening the Dragon Ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, complete with a dragon dance and blessings from Buddhist monks in the spirit of its 2,400-year tradition of dragon boat racing and related festivities.
There will be 26 boat teams competing in this year’s boat race that is sponsored by State Farm Insurance. The teams are from local companies and nonprofit organizations, and will be competing for best time, best overall times and best team spirit awards. The pre-trial and official races will run the length of both days with awards and a closing ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. The dragon boat races are based on the Chinese legend of Qu Yuan.
Cultural performances also will be held both days from noon – 5 p.m. There will be dance and music performances, martial arts demonstrations, children’s craft activities and canoe rides.
Try various Asian foods sold by area restaurants. There will also be arts and crafts vendors and informational booths by the many local ethnic organizations.
Admission is free. There will be no event parking at the Phalen Lake lots, but free parking is available at four nearby locations with free shuttle transportation provided to and from the Festival. Handicap parking will be available inside the park for patrons with the proper identification. There will also have an ADA bus at all four shuttle routes:
• Metro Transit Station on Highway 61 & County Road C
• Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Building, 1430 Maryland Ave. E
• Gustavus Adolphus Church, 1669 Arcade Street.
• Johnson High School, 1349 Arcade Street.
Details and up-to-date schedules of this annual celebration are online at www.dragonfestival.org.
Dragon Festival 2010 Events Schedule
Saturday, July 10
9:00 a.m. do.® walk
5K Walk Around Lake Phalen
$10 pre-registration/$15 same day registration 8:00 – 8:45 a.m.
www.dragonfestival.org
10:00 a.m. Hip Hop
Dance performance and workshop
11:00 a.m. Blessing Ceremony
Awakening the Dragon
Legend of the Dragon Boat Race
Welcome Remarks
Procession to performance stage
Noon -5 p.m. Cultural Performances
Dragon boat racing practice runs
Martial Arts Demonstrations
12:30 p.m. Philippine Combat Arts
1:00 p.m. TC Gumbo (Sparrow Institute)
2:00 p.m. U of M Judo Club
2:30 p.m. Gin Foon Mark Kung Fu
3:00 p.m. Dark Raven Studios
3:30 p.m. Moving Chi
Sunday, July 11
10:00 a.m. Hip Hop
Dance performance and workshop
Noon – 5 p.m. Cultural Performances Dragon boat racing all day
Martial Arts Demonstrations
Noon Kuk Soo Won
1:00 p.m. Minnesota Kali Group
2:00 p.m. Master Gin Foon Mark Kung Fu
2:30 p.m. Hui’s Lucky Dragon Dance
3:00 p.m. Green Dragon
3:30 p.m. Golden Leopard
4:30 p.m. Dragon Boat Race Awards and Closing Ceremony
Other Attractions:
Canoe rides by Wilderness Inquiry
Children’s activities
Food vendors
Dragon Festival merchandise
Asian Bazaar
Craft demonstrations
Dragon Festival 2010 Cultural Performance Schedule
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Master of Ceremonies – Ken Ujifusa
12:00-12:25 p.m. RGK India dancers
12:30-12:55 p.m. Ha Family Entertainment & Lion Dance Troupe,
Chinese, Vietnamese
1:00-1:30 p.m. Butanese singer
Keomony Cambodian Dance Group
Butanese singer
1:30-1:45 p.m. Filipino Rondalla, musician
1:45-2:00 p.m. Sumunar, Indonesian dance
2:00-2:25 p.m. Hmong Minnesota Bright Stars, dance
2:30-2:55 p.m. School of India for Languages and Culture, dance
3:00-3:15 p.m. Karen community of
Minnesota, Burmese dance
3:20- 3:55 p.m. Korean Traditional Music Association
4:00-4:25 p.m. Circus Manduhai,
Mongolian
4:25-4:30 p.m. Fireflies, Hmong dance group
Sunday, July 11th, 2010
Master of Ceremonies – Ken Ujifusa
12:15-12:30 p.m. Muzige Children’s Chorus, Chinese
12:30-12:55 p.m. Hmong Community School of Excellence dancers
1:00-1:15 p.m. Burmese Traditional Dancers
1:15-1:30 p.m. Jiuli Princess, Hmong Palace Dance School
1:30-2:00 p.m. Formosa Performing Art
Theater, Taiwanese dancers
2:00-2:25 p.m. Sansei Yonsei Kai, Japanese dance group
2:30- 2:55 p.m. Cultural Society of Filipino- Americans, dance
3:00-3:25 p.m. Mu Daiko, Japanese Drum
3:30-3:55 p.m. Hoang Anh Vietnamese Dance Group
3:55- 4:30 p.m. Chinese American Association of Minnesota, dance
