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Find out more about John: John Anderson has been a writer and traveler for over 14 years, and now turns his attention to finding the Bay Area’s best places and events, from around the corner to a day trip away, for your weekend getaway pleasure. |
It’s a triple whammy of swell reasons to come out for the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4-5. Number one, it’s a celebration of the Bay Area’s rich Asian culture, with over 100 teams and 3,
000 paddlers churning up the bay in their colorful dragon-headed (and tailed) ‘canoes’, from novice to competitive, in a tradition that originated in southern China some 2,500 years ago. Second, it’s a celebration, as in party, with as many as 50,000 attendees enjoying a full day’s lineup of entertainment, from traditional Asian dance and music, to acrobatics and taiko drumming, with food, drink, and shopping booths, and even arts, crafts and games for the little ones. Finally, it’s a chance simply to enjoy the outdoors on a relaxing day along the waterfront of Treasure Island, during San Francisco’s brief ‘summer’. If the sun god smiles upon us anyway.
If you’ve ever seen Olympic scull races, then you’ll have an idea of the level of exhaustion the dragon boat paddlers reach at the finish line. It’s all about strength, endurance and timing, and a lot of training goes into it for the best teams. Dragon boat’s have 20 paddlers, an oarsman to steer, and a drum to keep the paddlers in sync. It’s a cool thing to see. And while a lot of coastal cities around the country now have dragon boat races, like Portland and Miami, San Francisco bay seems like a far more appropriate setting for such an event.
The races start at 8am both days and go until 5pm, with entertainment from 10-5. And the best part? It’s free. Check it out at www.sfdragonboat.com
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