A record number of teams have registered to race at Riverfront Recapture’s Tenth Annual Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival on Saturday and Sunday, August 21 and 22, on the Hartford Riverfront.

Sixty-seven teams – a 33 percent increase over last year’s total – will bring more than 1,700 paddlers to the colorful races on the Connecticut River.  A dragon boat team consists of 20 paddlers, a drummer who sets cadence for the team, and a steersperson. 

Twenty-six out-of-state teams from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia have registered for the event, along with 41 local teams from the corporate and nonprofit communities.   

The Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival, at downtown Hartford’s Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, will feature Asian music, dance, cultural activities, food, and beverages as well as the highly exciting and fun races over the weekend. 

“We’re planning a colorful, action-packed event – and it’s free to anyone who wants to watch the races and enjoy the entertainment,” says Charles Myers, Riverfront Recapture’s Director of Programs and Events.

‘We are working to give people — especially our out-of-town guests — a terrific experience on a summer weekend in downtown Hartford,” Myers says.  “We’re sure that they’ll have so much fun that they will come back for an event that gets bigger every year.”

“Each team will bring in about 25 people,” Myers says.  “So we’re looking forward to a lively weekend of activity on the Riverfront – and in the city.”  

Dragon boating is a 2000-year-old Chinese tradition that is growing in America and thriving in other parts of the world.  As the sport’s popularity grows, groups form clubs to compete in races in their own area – and travel to out-of-state destinations like the Hartford Riverfront.

Club team competition will include races in various divisions, including one made up of breast cancer survivors.  Cash prizes totaling $10,000 will be awarded for first and second place finishes in each of the club team divisions and race lengths.

Organized club teams are traveling here from New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Burlington, VT, Ithaca, NY, several other East Coast cities. 

The Riverfront Dragon Boat races are sanctioned by the Eastern Regional Dragon Boat Association, giving teams with the highest points in their divisions the opportunity to represent the USA’s Eastern Region at regional championships.   

Riverfront Recapture held its first dragon boat races in 2001, introducing local groups to the sport.  Now groups in the Hartford area are beginning to form their own club teams.  A group of Pratt & Whitney employees, for example, have created a club team – “Splashing Tigers, Soaking Dragons” – that will compete at the Riverfront races. 

Other local groups are putting together teams just for the day of the race.  The field of 36 community teams includes: Aetna, PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Hartford, Gordon Muir and Foley, The Greater Hartford Jaycees, and the City of Hartford – which includes Mayor Pedro Segarra on its team.    

The City of Hartford is using the Riverfront Dragon Boat and Asian Festival to kick off “The Week of Parks,” a series of city-wide activities to focus attention on the rich legacy of Hartford’s parks, including the Riverfront.

Aetna, the event’s lead sponsor, is joined by several other sponsors:  PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Hartford at the gold level and MassMutual, Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, and Pratt & Whitney at the silver level. and Close Jensen and Miller as sponsor of the youth division.  The event also has support from the Connecticut Office of Culture and Tourism and the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the 2010 Riverfront Arts Partner.  Riverfront’s 2010 season is sponsored by Travelers, with support from the Metropolitan District Commission. 

The event is produced by Riverfront Recapture.  More details about the event are available at www.riverfront.org.