Shifting focus proves successful for Dragon Boat Festival

Chairman of the annual Dragon Boat Festival says their new strategy has paid off.

The Thunder Bay Dragon Boat Festival added a new twist to the 13th annual event at Boulevard Lake on Saturday. Organizers changed the focus from a competitive event to a more recreational festival. The result of the change had 35 teams compete, 10 more teams than last year.

Festival chairman Volker Kromm said after so many years of running the event, it was time for a change.

“We’re taking a more recreational approach,” Kromm said. “There’s a lot of excitement on the boats and I think it is a good change. I think people needed a change to see something different that why we went more recreational as well as more family oriented.”

He said they will continue with the strategy they have and work with dragon boat teams to meet their needs. If all goes according to plan, Kromm said he hoped to have closer to 50 teams next year.

Aundrea Rajamaki, a paddler with the Highview Meadows Dog Paddlers, said she had paddled before with another team at the festival but this year, she and her coworkers wanted to form a team and compete.  She said they aren’t a competitive team and they enjoyed the opportunity to paddle recreationally.

“Our team manage is very enthusiastic and kind of got us all on the boat,” Rajamaki said. “We’re more about having fun than being competitive. I was really good to be on the water. There was a lot of adrenaline, a lot of energy, our pacers were great and we all stayed together and pulled it out.”

One of the oldest teams at the festival was the Dragons of Hope. The team made up of mostly breast cancer survivors first competed in 1999. Gillian Britton joined the team in 2001 after doctor’s diagnosed her with breast cancer in 2000. She said she found the exercise helped as she went through treatment but also the support from the women.

After more than 10 years competing at the festival, she said the change was a good idea to try and attract more people to the event.

“The main thing is to have fun but we are competitive,” Britton said. “We have a super time out here. We use to have over a hundred teams at one time. There’s a lot to do in Thunder Bay and perhaps the novelty in our area has gone down but I think the canoe club going out to attract organizations to join in has helped.”