Post in Dragon Festival next weekend

Dragon Festival: Two Days of Celebration, Tons of Entertainment, Unlimited
Fun



St. Paul --- June 24, 2008 --- Beijing has the Olympics in August. The Twin
Cities will have the ancient Chinese sport of dragon boat racing (amidst
many other Asian Pacific entertainment and activities) on July 12-13 at
Phalen Lake/Park.

Dragon boat racing, one of the hottest and fastest-growing water sport, is
one of many reasons for you to be at Phalen Lake/Park the second weekend of
July. Twenty-seven teams, each consisting of 20-24 members, will be paddling
furiously to the cadence of their own drummer for a chance to be the 2008
champions. The 40-ft- long boats sport elaborately carved and painted dragon
heads and tails. The sight of and sound from these gliding machines will
make the trip worthwhile. Saturday is for practice and Sunday, race day, is
when things get serious!

However, there is more to the Dragon Festival than just dragon boat racing!
At 11:30 a.m., Saturday, visitors will be greeted and entertained by a
dragon at the "Awakening the Dragon" ceremony. They can watch the dragon
being woken up for the occasion; receive a traditional blessing by monks,
followed by a Hawaiian dance performance and hula workshop. On Sunday noon,
a taiko drumming performance and workshop kick off the performances while
martial arts enthusiasts will be treated to an exhibition of one of the
oldest Chinese martial arts form - Shaolin wu gong - at 12:15 p.m. at the
martial arts stage.

And, with all things Asian, food plays a dominant role. Three well-known
local culinary professionals will be on hand Saturday afternoon
demonstrating the intricacies of making curry sauces. Raghavan Iyer, author
of the recently published "660 Curries: The Gateway to the World of Indian
Cooking," will be joined by Supenn Harrison of Sawatdee (Thai) and Thom Pham
of Azia (Vietnamese). Iyer will be happy to sign copies of his cookbooks,
which will be available for purchase at the Festival.

Hankering for Asian food?  This is the place to be! You will have a choice
of Chinese, Hmong, Thai or Vietnamese. Can't wait until the State Fair?
There's barbecue, mini donuts, corndogs and ice cream as well. Bring a
healthy appetite to sample the variety.

Those interested in starting their Christmas shopping early will have
merchandise at all price points to satisfy, ranging from art to silver
jewelry to Tibetan crafts to Dragon Festival shirts, caps and spooner mugs,
to name a few. In addition, there will be free canoe rides, children
activities and on-going demonstrations of sand-painting; cement sculpture;
fruit, soap and dry coconut carving; bonsai; origami and henna art.
Representatives from many local organizations also will be on hand to
provide information about their services.

Schedule of cultural performances and martial arts exhibitions:




Date and time

Martial Arts

Cultural Performance



Curry Demonstration


Saturday, July 12








12:15 p.m.

Golden Leopard Kung Fu

Halau Hulao Ka Hoku Akau (Hawaiian hula dance and workshop)




1 p.m.



Formosa Performing Art Theater (Taiwanese dance)

Supenn Harrison, Sawatdee


1:15 p.m.

Sparrow Institute






1:30 p.m.



Keomony Cambodian Dance Group




2 p.m.



School of India for Languages and Culture (dance)

Raghavan Iyer, author of "660 Curries"


2:15 p.m.

Moving Chi

Karen Don Dance (Burmese)




2:30 p.m.



Birdie & Me-Linh Dance Group ( Laotian)




3 p.m.



Mother of All Dances ( Hmong)

Thom Pham, Azia


3:15 p.m.

Minnesota Ki Society






3:30 p.m.



Shinparam Traditional Drumming Troupe (Korean)




4 p.m.



Ye Yu  (Chinese music)




4:15 p.m.

KTA Demo Team






4:30 p.m.





Chinese American Association of Minnesota (dance)













Sunday, July 13








11:15 a.m.

Dark Raven Studios






Noon



Mu Performing Arts (taiko drum & workshop)




12:15 p.m.

Minnesota Shaolin Gong Fu






1 p.m.



Sansei Yonsei Kai Dance Group (Japanese)




1:15 p.m.

Kuk Sool Won of St. Paul






1:30 p.m.



Sumunar Youth Gamelan Ensemble (Indonesian music)




2 p.m.



Ha Family Cultural Entertainment (Chinese & Vietnamese songs)




2:15 p.m.

FEMA Iaido Club






2:30 p.m.



Nkauj Hmoob Minnesota (Hmong dance)




3 p.m.



Karen Culture Organization of Minnesota (Burmese dance)




3:15 p.m.

Aikido Yoshokai of Minnesota






3:30 p.m.



Hoang Anh Vietnamese Group (dance)




4 p.m.



Culture Society of Filipino American (dance)




4:15 p.m.

Green Dragon Kung Fu Association







Evelyn Lee, immediate past chair of the Dragon Festival board, says, "It is
great to see this multicultural festival grow with each year and attract
more and more participants. The Twin Cities has such a diverse population,
it is wonderful that we come together to learn about and celebrate our
differences and similarities in a fun way!

Of course, this year is even more important as some of the performers and
participants will be donating part or all of their honorariums and sales for
cyclone and earthquake relief in Myanmar and China respectively. It is good
that Dragon Festival can play a small part in their effort.

So, on behalf of the other board members, I wish to thank our sponsors for
providing the funding for making this possible."

Sponsors for the 2008 Festival are American Family Insurance (boat race
title sponsor), Ameriprise Financial, Asian Pages, Boston Scientific, China
Insight, Cub Foods, Eastside Financial Center, FedEx, Honeywell, Medtronic,
MHP, Northwest Airlines, QuitPlan, Shaw-Lundquist Associates, State Farm
Insurance, Target and Wells Fargo.

The festival is free and open to the public. There is no parking at Phalen
Lake Park, but there are satellite parking lots and free shuttle service to
the park. Visit the website  <http://www.dragonfestival.org/>
www.dragonfestival.org for details or call Elaine, 952-334-5626, after 6
p.m.



# # #



__________________________________________________
Anne R. Carroll
Carroll, Franck & Associates
Strategic planning, public involvement, and communications
1357 Highland Parkway
St. Paul, MN 55116 USA
Phone: 651-690-9162
Email:  <mailto:carrfran@qwest.net> <email obscured>
Skype: annepublicpartic
(School Board: 651-690-9156 or  <http://www.annecarroll.org/>
www.annecarroll.org)


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