This weekend marks the 12th Annual Dragon Festival ^[1],

The Asian-Pacific Minnesotan festival features cultural performances, artists, music and yes, Dragon Boat Races ^[2]!

These sleek, ornately designed boats are each 40-ft long and under 4-ft. in width. Each comes with a drum to provide the rhythm for the paddlers. The character of each boat is shown through its intricately designed head and tail representing the most venerated mythical beast in Chinese folklore–the dragon. The dragon is a believed to be a benevolent creature with powers to bring rain (that guarantees good harvest) and the power to ward off illness…Each team consists of 20 team members: 18 paddlers, one flag catcher, and one drummer.

I would love to be the drummer. I would bust out some sweet John Bonham licks and power my team to victory. There should be one rower who gets a cymbal or maybe a kazoo, too.

Dragon Festival is located at Phalen Lake Park in St. Paul, MN this July 12 & 13 from 9 am-5 pm. More info here ^[1].