When is Dragon Boat Festival 2024 in Hong Kong?

The Dragon Boat Festival originated over 2,000 years ago in China. It commemorates Qu Yuan, a poet and minister who drowned himself in the Miluo River as a protest against corruption. Villagers raced boats and threw rice to keep fish from eating his body.

Dragon boat races are the main event, featuring long boats with dragon heads. Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) are eaten. Some hang calamus and mugwort on doors for protection. Drinking realgar wine was traditional for warding off evil.

The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, typically falling in June in the Gregorian calendar.