2007 Festival Wrap Up
The 2007 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival was a tremendous success, and we want to thank EVERYONE who attended, every race team member, vendor, performer, volunteer and sponsor!
Although the weekend started ominously with a drenching rain on Friday night, the festival kicked off on Saturday with soggy grass but determined racers, performers and vendors setting up. As spectators arrived, the weather held out -- Saturday was mostly overcast and cool (but humid) and Sunday was sunny and warmer (but humid). We couldn't complain -- the rain didn't return during the festival, and temperatures in the 80s were a huge improvement over last year's 103-degree heat, which kept some people away from Sloan's Lake.
With this year's more moderate temps, the estimated final tally from the Denver police department was 90,000 guests over the weekend -- a record turnout!
Our new areas -- Explore Asia, where you could wander through an "Asian Village" with separate tents to learn about the area's rich Mongolian, Hmong and Filipino communities, and Cultural Unity, which celebrated the best aspects of hip-hop culture with dance, spoken word and rhythms -- were big hits with visitors. Over 80 Marketplace vendors sold goods from arts and gifts to a fabulous variety of Asian food. And our Performing Arts Stage was the shadiest (and driest!) spot at the fest, with a tent covering the stage and audience area.
(What did you think of the 2007 Festival? Send us your comments to info@cdbf.org -- thanks!)
(Also, if you lost an item at the festival, send an e-mail to info@cdbf.org describing what you lost.)
The dragon boat races were more exciting than ever, with more Youth Divison teams than before, and the debut of our new Adult Competitive Division. The Competitive Division used the new Hong Kong-style boats purchased by the Colorado Dragon Boat Race Association , the non-profit formed by CDBF to promote the sport of dragon boat racing year-round.
Here are the top winners in each division. Special congratulations go to the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado Youth Division team, which achieved an unheard-of fourth consectuive gold medal championship:
|
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Youth Division |
Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado |
CED Mongols |
Bohua Chinese School |
Adult Recreational Division |
Flying Dragons |
Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado |
NAAAP Colorado |
Adult Competitive Division |
Maestas Tae-Kwon Do Dungeonless Dragons |
Coors Dragon Slayers |
|
Here are some pictures form the festival:
The Asian Marketplace was hopping all weekend.
Truong An is one of the most popular vendors every year with their asian gifts and artisan goods
The crowds lined up for "Monkey Balls" from Thai Pepper in the Taste of Asia food area.
Mudra Dance Studio joined Denver Taiko during the Japanese drum group's popular cloosing performance on Sunday