Dragon Festival - 2009

Not only will the 2009 Dragon Festival at Phalen Lake Park, St. Paul, showcase cultural heritage of the local Asian Pacific Islander communities, it also will include cooking demonstrations of Asian street foods on Saturday, July 11, and special make-up tips sessions for Asian women on Sunday, July 12!

The annual two-day family-oriented Dragon Festival kicks off at 10 a.m. on July 11. The event’s all-volunteer planning committee is proud to promote the 2,400-yr-old tradition and sport of dragon boat racing. There also will be colorful displays of cultural heritage and performances in an effort to increase cross-cultural understanding. The year-round planning will result in a weekend of exciting festivities featuring:

Saturday, July 11

• Opening ceremony, 11:30 a.m.
• Asian street eats, 1-3:45 p.m.: Local culinary expert Raghavan Iyer and local restaurateurs will demonstrate and discuss common street foods found around Asia.

Sunday, July 12

• Indonesian music, 11:30 a.m.: Sumunar Gamelan Ensemble will perform and invite the audience to try various unique percussion instruments.
• Asian make-up tips and skin care, 1:30 & 3 p.m.: Susan Yee, Zhen Beauty founder and expert in the cosmetic industry, will demonstrate how to find the right foundation to match Asian skin tones, apply basic make-up and develop good skincare regimen that will save on make-up.
  

Many free attractions in two action-packed days

The namesake of the Festival are the dragon boat races, which originated in China. Legend has it that Qu Yuan, a wise and loyal minister to the Zhou Emperor who was loved by the common people, fought against corruption that plagued the court. He advised the emperor to avoid conflict with the Qin Kingdom and other court officials pressured the Emperor to have him removed from service. When the Zhou dynasty was defeated by the Qin, he became so despondent he threw himself into the Milou River. Fishermen rushed out in long boats, beating drums to scare the fish away, and throwing dumplings into the water to feed the fish so they would not eat Qu Yuan's body. Dragon boat races began as a way to commemorate Qu Yuan’s death.

Other activities include dragon boat races (practice sessions on Saturday, races on Sunday), cultural dance and musical performances, martial arts demonstrations, supervised children craft activities and canoe rides. Festival attendees also can sample the foods of local Asian restaurants and shop for arts and crafts items.

Representatives from local Asian community organizations will be demonstrating fruit/soap carving, origami, kimono dressing, henna art, calligraphy, and more.

Book signings by local authors

The Festival is honored to have local author and culinary expert Raghavan Iyer back helping with the street eats demonstrations (Saturday, 1-3:45 p.m.). Iyer’s 2008 cookbook, “660 Curries,” was just named the “Best Asian Cookbook” by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Copies of his books will be available for purchase and signing.

The other author is Baorong Li whose hot-off-the-press “50 State Quarters Program” includes stories about the designs of the U.S. quarters minted from 1999-2008, written in English and Chinese. Li, director of assessment and academic research at Metropolitan State University, will be contributing proceeds for the book sale to Dragon Festival!

This year’s opening ceremony blessing is conducted by the monks  of Watt Munisotaram,  one of the largest temples in the United States, and  home to the Minnesota Cambodian Buddhist Society in Hampton, MN. The temple was completed in July 2007 and the Society is now  in the process of constructing a stupa -- a building that contains Buddhist relics and symbolizes complete perfection of enlightenment. The temple is located at 2925 220th St. E., also called Highway 50 in Hampton.  For more information go to www.wattmunisota.org.

Support from these organizations enables production of the Festival and that admission and all presentations remain free to the public.

Companies wishing to get into the spirit of supporting the largest pan-Asian event in the Twin Cities can still do so by e-mailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Various sponsorship levels are available.

Watch the dragon come alive for the weekend and enjoy the sights, sounds and flavours of Asia!