2009 Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival Race + Asian Festival

The Fastest Growing Water Sport Returns to Charlotte

Charlotte–The 2009 Charlotte Dragon Boat/Asian Festival will be held on May 16 at Ramsey Creek Park, Cornelius. The Carolinas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce (CAACC) will again be joined by the Mecklenburg Park and Recreation Department as co-organizers, a partnership forged since 1999 to introduce Asian culture and traditions to the greater Charlotte community.

As before, Dragon Boat race will be joined in conjunction with the colorful Asian Festival where visitors will be entertained by and treated with a wide variety of traditional Asian offerings in food, stage performances, exhibits and merchandise for a fun filled day to all. You will definitely enjoy a most colorful display of young talents in the Miss Asian Festival Scholarship competition. Admission is free. Satellite parking areas will be posted for all visitors, with shuttle bus services to the park.

Dragon Boat racing is the fastest growing water sports event around the globe. The event embraces and promotes competition, fair play, team building, community cohesiveness, culture and history. Organized competitions are held in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, culminating in World Cup Championship races annually.

In 2005, the idea of launching a Dragon Boat race as a community building event was first proposed as a major Crossroads Charlotte initiative by CAACC. It was enthusiastically endorsed by a majority of the Crossroads Charlotte participating organizations.

The previous Dragon Boat events since 2006 were a big success in terms of attendance level as well community team participation. Teams that joined included those from the business community, non-profit organizations, high schools, colleges, citizen groups and breast cancer survivor teams from Atlanta and Charleston, SC. For more detail, please visit www.charlottedragonboat.com.

A Dragon Boat typically weighs about 600 pounds, measures 40 feet long in the shape of a canoe at 3.5 feet at its widest point. A wooden dragon head is attached to the bow and a tail at the stern. The hull is typically decorated with a design of red, green and blue scales edged in gold. Boats are crewed by a team of 22, with 20 paddlers, a drummer and a steer-person. You will hear competing teams propel their boats in sync with a furious rhythm pounded out by onboard drummers. All the noise and pageantry creates an atmosphere of excitement.

We encourage your organization to field team(s) for this event. A registered team will have 2 free practice sessions, with coaching, 2-3 weeks before the event in the Lake Norman area, and the team is guaranteed to race at least two times on race day. Because of the time constraint, the number of teams will be limited to 40. Team registration fees received before April 17 are $600 for nonprofits and $700 for others. After April 17, it is $700 and $800 respectively. For more details, please contact Lina Waty, linawaty@yahoo.com.

Festival sponsorships at various levels are available and details are available upon request.

The Carolinas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce (CAACC) is a nonprofit, all volunteer based organization. Founded in 1999, CAACC serves as a bridge to connect Asia and the United States in general and the local 40,000 plus Asian-American residents to the Charlotte community at large. With its increasing membership, CAACC’s focus is to continue to nurture, strengthen, and empower the Asian American business community in economic growth, Asian cultural awareness and active engagement in civic affairs.

For more information, please visit www.caacc.com or call 1-866-YES-ASIA.