The Dragon Boat Festival 2013 - Photo Story

 As promised here are some of the photos taken during the Dragon Boat Festival last weekend.  To the right is Grant McEwan University's "mascot" for the event.

It was perfect weather for race day.  A bright sunny day with a summer's blue sky with scattered fair weather clouds.  In the shade of the trees lining the river, hubby and I sat for the first few races of the afternoon until our backsides grew sore from sitting on hard ground.  We then departed to the area above, where we could stand and watch the teams race for the finish line.  As we were adjacent to it, we could see some neck and neck finishes.

The man in the steering position is wearing a funky hat as did each person in that position in the dragon boats.  There were prizes awarded for team spirit and funkiest hat.

The above photo is a team of women who raced in support of fighting breast cancer.  

Some were cancer survivors.

Bottom right hand side of the above photo is the dock where teams boarded/departed their dragon boats.

Above and below, racing for the finish line marked by the orange buoys.

Police and fire rescue patrolled the river assuring everyone's safety.

 A close-up of the dragon head which graced each canoe.

 The pedestrian bridge was the starting position for the paddlers.  Three boats raced each heat.

Above, the finishing line.

Check out the camera this journalist/photographer was using!  This is an example of the professional cameras I saw being used at the event.  I need to replace my camera (photos here were taken using my iPhone) but I don't need anything quite that extravagent.

Lane 3 Dragon Boat won in this above race.

Some of the races were neck and neck while some winners were lengths ahead.  

It seemed those who raced in lane 3 (the lane furthest away) won most often.  

The trails through the river valley beg for further exploration as we walked only a couple of them during this event.  It was a lovely way to leave the hectic pace of the city behind while still being in the centre of the city.  

With all the festivals our city hosts every summer, stay-cations don't need to be boring.  This year we attended the Taste of Edmonton, Street Performers, the Cariwest Festival Parade (not the festival though), and the Dragon Boat Festival.  The Fringe Festival is running right now.  We've gone in the past and am undecided about this year.  I'm sure there are several more that I've missed like the Sand on Whyte (sand sculptures) and then there's the Ice on Whyte in the winter too.  There's a lot of fun in store and most of it is family friendly.

Did you have a stay-cation this summer?

I'm joining the following memes:  Sky Watch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Watery Wednesday