NEW YORK, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Elected officials, sponsors and athletes Wednesday painted red dots on the eyes of dragon boat figure heads to "wake" them up as part of the festivities leading up to the 28th annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York City.

The traditional dragon boat awakening ceremony took place at 10:30 a.m. near Bethesda Fountain adjacent to the Central Park Lake boathouse.

Two dragon boats were on display during the event, with one put in the lake for a quick spin for invited guests.

The ceremony marked the start of the training period for over 200 teams competing in this year's dragon boat races on Aug. 11 and 12 in Meadow Lake at the Corona Park in the city's borough of Queens.