Dragon Boat Festival 2014

The Dragon Boat Festival has become a family tradition for our family.  We try to make it every year, although that didn't work out a couple of times.  We subject ourselves to the heat every year to see some great cultural events and eat some overpriced Asian food.  This year Jay's mom even braved it and came along.  But in her words, "It's not on my bucket list to do it again."

 

The Dragon Boat Festival is an annual event that occurs at Sloans Lake in Denver in late July.  Each year it seems that they manage to pick the hottest weekend of the whole year.  It was so hot that I used my Lao mat not only to sit on, but also to shade my head from the intense sun while we waited for our shuttle bus.

 

The parking fee at the football stadium for the Broncos cost $5,

but the festival is free.  If you want to sample the food, plan to bring plenty of cash, because the prices are rather high.  However, it doesn't cost anything to enjoy watching the boat races on the lake and the festival entertainment.

 

This year we were a little disappointed that there were no Thai entertainers.  Last year the whole focus was on Thailand.  This year the main country they were highlighting was the Philippines.  It was fascinating because I discovered how very diverse the culture of the Philippines is.  Some of the music sounded very heavily influenced by the Spanish culture.

  Others seemed very indigenous.

 

We especially enjoyed watching the tinnikling, when they dance in and out of moving bamboo sticks.

 

 

And we loved the dance with flowers and watching the cute little girls dancing.

  

 







But, there were several other cultures represented, as well.  And we each had our favorite performers.  Penny's favorite were the Japanese taiko drum players.  They were very good and they were from Arvada.

 

Grandma's favorite were the Kung Fu group from Boulder who did dragon dances.  They were very athletic and entertaining.

 

 

But, I think Jay's and my favorite of all were probably the Mudra dancers from India.  They have performed for 12 straight years at the Dragon Boat Festival.  They dance to such fun, upbeat, Bollywood style music that you can't just help but want to dance along.  They have such amazing energy and smiles as they dance.

 

 

 

 

So, when they gave the audience the chance to come up and dance along, I jumped at the opportunity.

 

 

So, if you're crazy enough to brave the heat, I'd encourage anyone to come enjoy this festival.  The key is....bring plenty of water and cash, hats, something lightweight to sit on and go early enough to find a shady spot to hang out to watch the entertainment.