Sudbury Dragon Boat Festival 2005
Ramsey Lake Bell Park Sudbury Ontario
16 July 2005

As the second most important cultural event for the Chinese, the Festival marks the tragic death of Qu Yuan, the poet-philosopher, who committed suicide by drowning himself in the Mei Lo River to protest the corrupt regime of the Chou emperor. According to the legend, local fishermen, seeing this happen, raced out with their boats in an attempt to save him, but failed.

To prevent his body from being eaten by the fish, they beat the water furiously with their paddles and threw rice dumplings, wrapped in silk, into the river as a sacrifice to his spirit. The scene of the fishermen racing out to save Qu Yuan is reenacted every year in the form of dragon boat races. The Tuen Ng Festival, also know as Poet's Day, is a rain making festival for ensuring a good harvest. Rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves are eaten during the celebrations.

Aside from the races, the fun-filled weekend enriched by a series of performances, featuring traditional cultural dances and songs from a number of ethnic communities. This year Chinese, Irish, Ukrainian, Sri Lankan groups participated for the cultural show. These performances reflect Sudbury's ethnic diversity and complement the city's cultural mosaic.  
OIDA also held a booth promoting Sri Lanka Post Tsunami Trekking Challenge tour with Sri Lankan air lines. Sri Lankan food court attracted many participants and total funds raised from this projects goes to support "Ontario Village" and "Child & Youth Development Centre", Boossa, Sri Lanka.