Cultural events have been held in many countries to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, which fell on Friday this year, immersing locals into joyful atmosphere during the traditional Chinese festival.
The annual Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, which ran from Friday to Sunday in the Canadian capital, drew over 100 teams made up by about 4,000 dragon boat fans.
The event, one of the biggest of its kind in North America, has been held for 33 years. "I mean it's definitely a nice team activity and gets us collaborate together," said a dragon boat racer.
"I'm glad it made its way to Ottawa. So, we are very proud to continue the tradition," said another dragon boat racer.
Another cultural event held on Saturday in Sydney, capital of Australia, offered participants opportunities to experience martial arts, enjoy traditional Chinese music, and make zongzi, a glutinous rice dumpling wrapped with bamboo or reed leaves.
"I know you have rice and you have [Chinese red] dates. It was nice to do it. That was really nice," said a French tourist who learned how to make zongzi at the event.
The Dragon Boat Festival celebration held at Cambodia's Royal University of Fine Arts on June 17 invited students to learn how to draw Chinese paintings, make paper cuts and zongzi.
"At today's event, I saw many unique displays of Chinese culture, including Hanfu and paper cuts with various patterns," said a student.
"This Dragon Boat Festival celebration was really special to me, because I had only heard about zongzi before but had never seen or touched one," said another student.
The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. This year, it fell on June 19.
Cultural events held worldwide to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival
