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The 2019 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival, now in its tenth year, will descend on Hong Kong’s iconic Central Harbourfront and Victoria Harbour from 14 to 16 June 2019 with an action-packed programme of competitive racing and cultural activities.

Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and the Hong Kong China Dragon Boat Association (HKCDBA), the 2019 Event will welcome international teams from more than 15 countries to Asia’s world city to compete by invitation only.

Australian Teams competing include:

  • Newcastle Hunter Dragon Boat Club from Newcastle, New South Wales
  • Outback Dragons from Dubbo, New South Wales
  • The Sloths Dragon Boat Club from Sydney, New South Wales
  • Maroochy Sea Serpents from Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Interviews with teams are available upon request

Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Regional Director – Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, Andrew Clark said

“While dragon boat racing is practised throughout the world year-round nowadays, Hong Kong is the world’s first to organise invitation races drawing dragon boat clubs from around the globe as well as giving visitors the opportunity to experience the city’s diverse cultural and local festivities”.

Highlights for this year’s annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival include:

At Central Harbourfront with free entrance there will be;

  • A fun-filled playground with a man-made beach
  • A ‘Splash Area’
  • The Street Food Gala
  • The newly introduced Artisanal Market

For an authentic taste of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival:

Unsurprisingly for Hong Kongers festive food is a nostalgic highlight of the Dragon Boat Carnival – specifically ‘zongzi’ or sticky rice dumplings.  In the 1940s and 50s, locals would eat small, almost bite-size savoury dumplings made of glutinous rice, mung beans and braised pork belly. Today, the leaf-wrapped streamed rice dumplings are much larger and can easily feed two to three people and contain a greater variety of ingredients, from salted egg yolk to roast duck, roast pork, dried scallops, Jinhua ham and shiitake mushrooms. The significance of these unique snacks is tied to Qu Yuan, the patriotic poet that the Dragon Boat Carnival commemorates.