It simply isn’t an adventure worth telling if there aren’t any dragons.
~J.R.R. Tolkien
With a break in the heat, celebrating the Year of the Dog at the annual Dragon Boat Festival couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve attended this festival many times in the past and it’s usually one of the hottest weekends of the summer so imagine my delight when pizzas actually came from the food trucks, rather than the sidewalk. Billed as the largest of its kind in the nation — this festival has been a source of pride and cultural preservation for thousands of Asian-Americans across the Rocky Mountain region. With killer boatsmanship, entertainment galore and enough food trucks and vendors to choke a horse, this year’s version was bigger than ever, with an estimated 120,000 in attendance. Opening ceremonies included a dragon dance and the dotting of the eye ceremony (which I sadly missed).
Along with cultural performances, the festival boasted tasty food, shopping, family activities, dragon boat races and other celebrations of Asian and Asian-American heritage and all around good fun for everyone.
Does this particular heat seem as unfair to you as it did to me since the geese don’t get to race with oars? They did perform nicely, nonetheless.
All an all, it was a great two-day dragon adventure certainly worth telling others about. Tolkien would have been proud. How was your weekend?
Live, love, bark! 🐾