The Mills High School Dragon Team will perform a traditional dragon dance to open this year’s Millbrae Art & Wine Festival on Saturday, August 30. The formation will begin at 11 a.m. in front of the Wells Fargo Stage at Taylor and Broadway and wind its way through the festival.

The dragon is 101 feet in length with a 22-pound head and a newly redesigned tail and pearl. The Mills dragon is student designed, created, and assembled using the school colors. The dragon is always chasing the pearl therefore the pearl controls the pattern of the dragon’s movements with its 68 members who switch to provide energy relief for the performers.

The students maneuvering the head will use a variety of techniques including coils and figures eights with a gyrating head to create audience interest as it moves down the parade route. Dragons have great symbolism in Chinese mythology and represent the most powerful and respected animals of the Chinese calendar. The Dragon Dance will bring good luck to the festival and all those in attendance.

Accompanying the Dragon Dance will be the Burlingame-based Shinnyo Temple Taiko Drum Group, a Buddhist order founded in Japan in the 1930’s. Traditionally, taiko drums have been used to celebrate festivals, sporting events and for religious ceremonies. For the Shinnyo taiko drummers however, they are much more than musical instruments. Through their music, they hope to transmit the warm heart of their beliefs to reach out, care about and have gratitude toward all people and to volunteer for the benefit of others.