Festival

The Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boats in Taipei. The Dragon Boat festival takes place on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month in the Chinese calndar. In 2011 that falls on June 6th.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival.

Today is the dragon boat festival, a traditional Chinese festival that is celebrated in Chinese communities and countries throughout the world. Occurring annually on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, the dragon boat festival features dragon boat races and the eating of rice dumplings. It originates from the story of Qu Yuan, a poet in the warring states period who lived from 340 BCE until 278 BCE. It’s said that he was banished and accused of treason following the king of the Chu state’s alliance with the Qin state. In exile, he compiled a lot of poetry and upon the Qin’s conquering of the Chu, he drowned himself in despair. Local people are said to have paddled out on boats to either scare away the fish or to retrieve is body, and it’s from this that dragon boat racing has its origin.

If you ever get an opportunity to participate or be a spectator, it’s a colorful and exciting holiday. Below is a compilation of photographs from dragon boat festivals in previous years.
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On The Road

Thaipusam Festival, Batu Caves, Malaysia. It is a Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (Jan/Feb). The festival celebrates the birth of Murugan,the youngest son of Shiva and his wife Parvati. The festival at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur culminates in a 272 step climb into the cave.

I’m currently on the road on an assignment and as such don’t have time for any long blog posts. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this gallery from the Thaipusam festival in Malaysia. I photographed this last year, and the 2011 festival begins this week. If you’re in the Kuala Lumpur area, I highly recommend you head out to Batu Caves and witness the spectacle. It’s a fast-paced, photogenic festival. Here’s a slideshow from the 2010 festival, and I will hopefully have a new blog up later in the week.

Pre-opening the Taipei Deaflympics

Taiwan Deaflypmics pre-opening show featuring performance by New Substance.

A few months ago, the IOC-sanctioned Deaflympics made its first trip to Asia with Taipei hosting the 2009 summer games. Excluding the Olympics themselves, the Deaflympics are the longest running multi-sport event in the world, having been held every four years since 1924 when the first games were held in Paris. For Taiwan, it marked the largest international sporting event to be held here, and the games were widely considered to be a success for Taipei.

In the lead up to the games, various promotional events were held, both in Taiwan and abroad. I was commissioned to shoot one of them and present a few highlights here today. This featured a UK based multi nation production company putting on an aerial type display featuring lots of acrobats and breathtaking stunts. You can see the rest of the photos after the jump.

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The Dragon Boat Festival

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On The Road

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Pre-opening the Taipei Deaflympics