The festival has its origin in the story of Qu Yuan, a poet and statesman.
Legend has it that when he drowned in the Milou River the common people, who loved him, rushed in their boats in an unsuccessful attempt to save him. Having failed, they prepared parcels of food for the fishes so that they would leave his body in peace.
All aspects of the festival have their origin in the story - the races in boats decorated as dragons, the preparation of zong zi (a rice-based dish) and gifts to children of xiang bao ('fragrance pouches' made of cotton or silk, decorated with animals or flowers and containing perfume).
The Chinese community in the UK has not had as much success as the one in the USA in organising dragon boat races. Look up www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk to see if there are any near you. There are colourful images of races in China and America on a number of other websites. You can make links with work you did on dragons at the New Year Festival. Activities in the setting can include decorating toy boats with dragons' heads and various kinds of water play and exploration built around that.
You will probably need help from someone in your local Chinese community with zong zi and xiang bao, but it should be easy enough to add the tale of Qu Yuan to your story-time repertoire.
