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2011, The 7th Annual Kansas City International Dragon Boat Festival


UMKC Chancellor Morton has honor of traditional Waking the Dragon Ceremony.


Brush Creek at the Country Club Plaza was alive with dragons on Saturday, June 25. The Kansas City - Xi’an Sister City Committee and the Society for Friendship with China celebrated the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival with parades, stage performances and Dragon Boat races. An early light rain turned into a sunny day of fun and competition for adults and children alike.

After the wandering dragon arrived at the stage, Master of Ceremonies John Phillips started the festivities. He introduced Kansas City Mayor Sylvester James and University of Missouri at Kansas City Chancellor Leo Morton, who performed the traditional ceremony, Opening of the Sleeping Dragon’s Eyes. An audience of approximately a thousand followed them down to the creek to begin the races, while stage performances began on the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Show Wagon.

We wish to thank Silk Road Dance Academy for the young adult dances, Lily "ZhangLi" Taylor Dance School for the children’s dances, the dragon, lion and drum dance, from the Kansas City Drum Roller team, Master Chun Man Sit Southern Kungfu School for the Martial Arts displays, parade drum by Daniel Roy’s team and the yoyo performance by Nate Falke.

John Phillips turned over the microphone to Fang Shen, Society for Friendship with China Board Member, for performances of Lion, Dragon and folk dances by various children and adult groups. Dances offered a representation of cultures of the fifty-five government recognized ethnic minorities living in China today. The annual Dragon Boat Festival actually memorializes the beloved poet and statesman Qu Yuan, who threw himself in the Milou River to drown, and people’s attempt to rescue him from the fish and the water dragon at the riverbed.

Nine teams in two divisions used four Dragon Boats to race two at a time down Brush Creek from the dock west to the dam and back, each colorful rowing crew kept steady by a drummer up front and straight by a rear rudder person. Scheduled heats among the corporate and college divisions ran from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The team from Kansas City Parks and Recreation department won the corporate division trophy, over Sprint and Rotary Club 13. The International Club of Johnson County Community College prevailed over teams from KU Medical Center, the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas State University, Beta Theta Pi at UMKC and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) at UMKC.

Money raised by the Dragon Boat Festival is used to support three schools outside the Xi’an China school district. A $30 donation covers all costs of materials for one student for one year.

Financial Assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. This project also is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund of the City of Kansas City, Missouri.


Marcia Cooper

Photos by Qian Rong, Jim Hill and Linda Hanley



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