On August 2-3, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba and New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe will welcome the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. Over 150 teams will race traditional custom-made boats for cash and prizes, with championship races to be held on both days. The festival, one of the largest multi-cultural events in New York City, will feature food and music celebrating the "Year of the Rat." The races will take place from 9:00am-5:00pm on both Saturday and Sunday, while performances and festivities will also take place throughout each day. The Festival is free and open to the public.

"As the oldest and largest dragon boat festival in the United States, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival showcases a fascinating sport with a rich history," said Commissioner Podziba. "In addition to world-class dragon boat racing, the weekend will also feature a wide array of international foods, performances and a fair featuring many traditional arts and crafts."

"We are pleased to host the Dragon Boat Open Championship - a unique multi-cultural event held at the world-famous Flushing Meadows Corona Park," said Commissioner Benepe. "The event is a spectacular celebration of diversity with groups participating from multiple countries. Whether you are racing or not, we urge you to join the festivities filled with dance, music, food and martial arts for the whole family to enjoy."

The event will feature over 1,500 participants from across the United States and Canada. Several world-class teams are expected to participate, including squads from Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and New York. Each team will consist of a long, narrow dragon boat that seats 18 paddlers, a steerer and a drummer.

In addition to racing action, the festival will feature many family-fun activities. Events will include a photo contest, a presentation of traditional Chinese arts, martial arts demonstrations, a traditional Dragon dance, musical performances and demonstrations of folk arts and crafts. The Chef One "Dumpling Eating Contest" will take place on Sunday at noon, while all festival attendees will have an opportunity to sample delicious delicacies from around the world at the food court.

The opening day parade takes place at noon on Saturday, August 2, and will be followed by the New York City Championship Races. Other races to be held on the first day include the Municipal Invitational and several heats of the U.S. Dragon Boat Open Championship. Races to be held on Sunday include the Sponsors Challenge, the Corporate Invitational, the Charity Race, the Media Invitational/Metro Asian Food Magazine Cup and the Women's Invitational. The remaining races of the Open Championship will be held on Sunday, August 3.

The colorfully-painted dragon boats are custom-made by a small coterie of craftsmen in Hong Kong. They first appeared in the third century B.C., after idealistic poet and reformer Qu Yuan had tried to drown himself in protest of his emperor's policies. Popular legend has it that locals raced in boats in an attempt to rescue the revolutionary poet. They beat their drums and splashed their paddles in order to prevent fish and water dragons from eating his body.

For more information on the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, please visit www.hkdbf-ny.org.

Parks & Recreation is the steward of 29,053 acres of land - 14 percent of New York City - including more than 4,000 individual properties ranging from Yankee Stadium and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. Parks operates more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds. The Department manages four major stadia, 550 tennis courts, 61 public pools, 48 recreational facilities, 17 nature centers, 13 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. Parks cares for 1,200 monuments and 22 historic house museums and looks after 600,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. The Parks Department is New York City's principal providers of athletic facilities and is home to free concerts, world-class sports events and cultural festivals. For more information about Parks, visit our Web site: www.nyc.gov/parks.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. In recent years, the Sports Commission has played a role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.