The Chinese sport of dragon boat racing, said to be more than 2,000 years old, has caught on internationally with well-attended races held in cities as diverse as London, Hong Kong, Sydney, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, San Francisco and even Racine, Wis. Each crew of 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steersman tries to power their purpose-built boat across the finish line before their opponents. It's a team sport that depends on power, speed, synchronization and endurance.
In its eighth year, the weekend-long Colorado event held at Denver's Sloan Lake traditionally kicks off with an "Awakening the Dragon" ceremony, a beautiful and spiritual ritual during which Buddhist monks chant as special guests carefully "dot the eyes" of the racing boats to awaken the spirit of the dragons, and a colorful 75-foot "dragon" dances.
In addition to the two days of intense dragon boat racing by more than 50 adult, youth and corporate teams, the free family-friendly festival showcases traditional and contemporary performing artists, cultural customs and cuisine. This year's festival also featured the 2008 American Dragon Boat Association (ADBA) Competitive Regional Races - the Olympics of dragon boat racing for the area. National teams competed in division races on a 500-meter course using Hong Kong-style boats.
With extensive media coverage and more than 100,000 people showing up -- to compete, follow the furious action from shore, and soak in the culture and flavors of Asia and the Pacific -- the Dragon Boat Festival was a slam-dunk way for Chrysler to test the waters of Asian American consumer marketing.
Of course, dragon boat competition has been hot and heavy for years in the Bay Area, with the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival taking place on Treasure Island last month.
For information on S.F. racing, see sfdragonboat.com. For more on Colorado's action, visit cdbf.org.
