On the weekend of 8th June, Manchester’s Salford Quays was taken over by the thrilling, extravagant and exciting UK Chinese Dragon Boat Festival!
“Since the Xinhua Chinese Association (XCA) introduced the first UK Chinese Dragon Boat Festival (UCDBF) at the Salford Water Sports Centre in 2012, XCA has continuously been developing this event into a popular and well-known community. It is an event that contributes greatly to the multicultural and inclusive society, as well as promoting understanding, exchanges and friendship between the UK and China, which have been highly praised by all parties” – https://www.dragonboatfestival.uk/about
The UK Chinese Dragon Boat Festival at Salford Quays always promises to be a vibrant and exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture and tradition. Spectators can enjoy a feast of Chinese cuisine, cultural performances, and family-friendly activities, immersing themselves in the rich heritage and festive spirit. All of the teams participating in the day’s dragon boat race were a brilliant mix of cultures making this a wonderfully diverse day.
The day began with a captivating opening ceremony setting the stage for a day of thrilling races and cultural festivities. Then the 41-teams strong dragon boat race began! The teams involved in the first race of the day were all local Mancunian teams, making this our first super competitive race of the day. Manchester United Foundation Red Devils won that first race with a time of 77.55 seconds. The races got more exciting and more competitive as the day went on. Teams gathered for team talks, tactics and good luck handshakes.
After round 1 the team leading the dragon boat race were the Belt and Road Association UK, the only team up until then to break the 65 second mark!
“As the festival unfolded, we witnessed colourful parades, lively performances, and a festive atmosphere that resonated with joy and enthusiasm. The intricately crafted dragon boats sailed past to the roaring cheers of spectators lining the quays. Drone footage was captured to get the sense of actually what it feels like to be slicing through the water at speed.” – https://www.rockfieldmedia.com/blog/uk-chinese-dragon-boat-festival-2024
Round 2 flew by with almost all teams improving on their round 1 times. More focused technique and understanding of how to propel the dragon boats through the water resulted in some incredible results. But still, no one could catch the tail of Belt and Road Association UK with a round 2 time of a fantastic 62.66 seconds!
One of our helms commented on his race with the Belt and Road Association UK saying “they were so quick off the start line I could’ve flown off the back of the boat! The power in that boat is unmatched!”
The race wasn’t over though! As we all know, anything can happen in dragon boat racing! Advancing through to the three semi-finals were the 12 quickest teams with only 6 of these making it through to the grand-final. With a dramatic did-not-finish from Liverpool CSSA-2 due to a big wobble and a capsize, the semi-finals were completed. The six teams advancing through to the huge 6 boat grand-final were: The Belt and Road Association UK, Che Kung Tong, Bank of China, The Cargill Canoe, New Jackson Dragons and Liverpool CSSA-1.
With a nerve-wracking line up on the start line, all teams were set and ready to go. Hawaii 5-0 boomed around the water as the teams attempted to paddle to victory. It was an absolutely outstanding win from Belt and Road Association UK winning by at least a dragon boat length, flying to a well-deserved win!
Want to plan our own dragon boat event? get in touch with NewWave Events: https://dragonboatevents.co.uk/contact-us-dragon-boat-events-newwave-events/
