The first annual Dragon Boat Festival came to Edmonds Thursday for an afternoon of food, dance and music. Sponsored by the Seattle Flying Dragon Boat Club, several community members and elected officials – including Lynnwood City Council Vice President Julieta Altamirano-Crosby and Mountlake Terrace City Councilmember Steve Woodard – had signed up to participate as dragon boat rowers.
After boarding two, colorful canoe-shaped boats that had a dragon’s head at their bow, they braved the churning waters just off of Olympic Beach near the Edmonds Waterfront Center and paddled a few laps around the two posts due west of the waterfront’s entrance.
The event was the vision of Asian Service Center (ASC) Executive Director Robert Ha and Edmonds Councilmember Will Chen. The nonprofit – founded by Ha, Chen and Crystal Xiao – was launched in 2023. The three had noticed that Snohomish County lacked community services for Asian immigrants and that most of these services are located in King County.
“We are fortunate to have a great organization whose members take community service to heart through volunteerism and living the value of service above self,” Chen said. “Cultural diversity is the strength of our communities, and wonderful family events like the Dragon Boat Festival bring us together.”
Asian Service Center Board Director David Chan said that ASC’s intention is to help assimilate all immigrants – not just Asian immigrants – to life in the U.S. and Edmonds to be “productive residents.”
Traditionally, the Dragon Boat Festival (端午節) is held on the fifth day of the fifth month on the lunar year calendar, commemorating the legacy of the Chinese poet and prime minister Qu Yuan (屈原) during the Warring States Period in China (5th century B.C. to 221 B.C.).
Qu Yuan died by suicide, driven by his despair over the the Qin army’s conquest of his homeland, the state of Chu. Despite his efforts to advise and reform his state, Qu Yuan faced exile and marginalization by the ruling elite.
When the capital of Chu fell to the Qin forces in 278 B.C., Qu Yuan chose to end his life by drowning in the Miluo River – a final act of protest and sorrow for his country’s downfall. Today, many people in China and Chinese communities worldwide honor his memory by racing dragon boats and making zongzi (粽子), sticky rice dumplings, to symbolize the efforts to save or recover his body from the river.
Some scholars say that it was a ritual to appease the dragon king, who controlled rainfall and rivers.
Seattle-Kaohsiung Sister-City Association President Shiao-Yen Wu, who attended the Edmonds event, said that there are dragon boat races scattered around the Puget Sound area, including downtown Seattle and Lake Union. Wu added that the Seattle Flying Dragon Boat Club also races in Taiwan once a year.
“It’s a family event,” Wu said. “You can have a 9-year-old and a 99-year-old [do] a dragon boat race together. It’s a very good exercise. Today is the first year that Edmonds has a dragon boat event, and our hope is that it’s not the last year.”
— Story and photos by Nick Ng
Thank you to everyone who worked to make this inaugural Dragon Boat Festival a success! Special shout out to Daniel Johnson and Ilham Lioui and all your staff at the Edmonds Waterfront Center for all your support and assistance! What a great partnership!
Thank you Nick Ng for writing this in depth article about the Dragon Boat Festival. On behalf Asian Service Center( ASC) I like to thank all the sponsors. Without their support, it is very difficult to pull off such a big event. ASC Board and Staff love to share their cultures and “building bridges”. We also happy to see the community come out and really enjoy the events on such a sunny day. While everyone in ASC work hard to make this event happened, I like to especially thank Alison Pence is the Event Coordinator who makes this event a huge success. Michael Chong was able to secure fundings to provide our services. David Chan, Board Chair of Asian Service Center.
A heartfelt THANK YOU to all who attended, participated and volunteered for this wonderful Dragon Boat Festival! It’s your involvement made it such a successful community event! Can’t wait for next year!
It was a great event and everyone worked hard to make it successful.
The food from the Oasis restaurant in shoreline was very delicious.
Let’s do it again and thanks
Riaz Khan
Dropped by early to see the set up of the event. Lots of people did lots of labor of love to make fun for everyone in town. Congratulations to ASC and Alison Pence on presenting such a great cultural event for all to enjoy.
Thank you, Clint. I appreciate the acknowledgment, but as I said earlier, we couldn’t have done it without the Edmonds Waterfront Center staff and volunteers. Also to the Flying Dragon Boat Club who provided the boats, safety instruction, and muscle! To South County Fire MARINE 17 who kept a watchful eye; To the performers who entertained the enormous crowd, and Della Chen who directed the film, “She Marches in Chinatown”; Let us not forget our community who came out on a Thursday afternoon; Without all of you we would not be a success.
I truly hope everyone learned something about the different Asian cultures through our music, dance, boat competition, food, and even a Filipino who can impersonate Elvis! Until next year, A hui hou!
I had such a great time at the festival. I loved being in the dragon boat races. And “Elvis” was amazing!! Thank you to all the sponsors and volunteers to made this wonderful event happen!!
This event, held for the first time at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, was a huge success for all involved. It was fabulous.
How do you not love this?? The relatively new Asian Service Center (ASC), in partnership with the Edmonds Waterfront Center (EWC), puts on an event with a goal to engage, entertain and educate the community on Asian culture. It takes a tremendous amount of effort – transporting dragon boats, paddles & safety equipment, coordinating multiple groups of performers, arranging food providers, enlisting numerous volunteers, outreach to several news organizations, etc. What is the result? The community shows up in the HUNDREDS to support and learn from this event! What a community – huge congratulations to all involved!
Karen,
Thank you for your kind words. The rewards for the whole organization of Asian Service Center (ASC) were seeing the happy faces of the families on that day. Most of them were their first time ever seeing, touching, and paddling on a Dragon Boat. Knowing the history of the dragon boat through the Proclamation read by Mayor Rosen makes the celebration more meaningful. The Festival was created by regular folks who started a movement to honor a good and honest Prime Minister. a true patriot. These kinds of stories should cross any cultures and time. Yes, we heard from our sponsors and the community. They want ASC to make the Festival Bigger and Better next year. This event also follows our mission of “Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges” – David Chan, Board Chair of Asian Service Center.