NEW YORK, July 20 (Xinhua) -- This year's Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival will return to New York City on Aug. 3-4 with more than 200 teams from across North America joining the annual races.

Already in its 29th year, the festival will take place at the Meadow Lake of the Queens borough of New York, rain or shine, with competitions of various groups including the Municipal Invitational, Senior's Invitational, Women's Invitational, Media Challenge, Educational Invitational, Corporate Invitational and the much anticipated Charity race.

The dragon boats, weighing one ton each with colorfully painted dragon heads and tails, are run by up to 20 crewmen, including 18 paddlers, a drummer and a steering person.

The two-day festival also features demonstrations of martial arts, dragon dance, pop and traditional music and other Chinese folk arts and crafts. An international food court will also be there offering diverse cuisines.

Last week, a dragon boat awakening ceremony was held in Manhattan's Bryant Park as a prelude to the festival, during which the eyes of a dragon boat figurehead were painted red to symbolize "dragons being awakened".

It is a tradition celebrated each year to mark the beginning of the race season and to promote safety and good luck in the coming months of practice.

The tradition of dragon boat racing is an annual Chinese rite commemorating the idealistic poet and politician Qu Yuan who drowned himself over 2,200 years ago in central China's Miluo River. The locals raced in their boats in an attempt to rescue the poet, beating their drums and splashing their paddles to scare away fish and water dragons. Enditem

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