site.btaRuse Hosts Dragon Boat Festival

A Dragon Boat Festival took place on Saturday and Sunday on a lake near Ruse. The event was organized by the Ruse Municipality and the Dragon Boat Association.

"The festival is a huge opportunity not only to get in touch with the sport of dragon boat racing, to Chinese culture, but it is a huge opportunity to feel the spirit of unity and learn to do things together as a society. This the power of the dragon, its philosophy - strangers sit in the boat and learn to do something together," Ruse Mayor Pencho Milkov told BTA, and noted that this is preparation for next year's world championship, which will take place in Ruse and gather thousands of competitors from all over the world.

There  dragon boat races took place on both days of the weekend at the Ruse rowing base. Crews of 10 and 20 people participate in each race, and the distances are 200 metres.

The festival also offered a varied program of music and dance performances, creative workshops, an art bazaar, martial arts demonstrations and culinary exhibitions.
The organizers informed that dragon boat racing is increasingly popular all over the world and the Dragon Boat Festival has been included by UNESCO in the World Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.