Dragon Boat racing is now an annual event in Roberts Park, over a whole weekend. It started in a small way in 2015 (and indeed the first such event had to be on the canal as the weather was awful and the river was in flood.) Now it's a very big occasion indeed, and raises a lot of money for various charities. I've generally stopped attending as, once you've seen one race, there's not a lot different that happens. There's a lot of waiting around whilst the teams disembark and embark and row upriver to the start and then just a couple of minutes of the excitement of an actual race - and it's not all that easy to watch the races, with limited viewpoints onto the river. The all-important leader board gets updated so you can see who's had the fastest times.
I wanted a walk on Sunday, so I went down to the park to see what was going on. As well as the racing, there was a street food market, a funfair, a general market and an exhibition by the Royal Air Force, showcasing the many interesting and different career paths in the service. ('Not everyone is a pilot').
It was a warm, sunny weekend which brought lots of people out to enjoy the fun, in addition to the dragon boat teams and their supporters. It's an opportunity too for our emergency services to engage with the public and tell people what they do. Both the police and fire brigade had demos.
By the time I'd walked there and back and had a wander round the park, I realised it was hotter than I'd anticipated. By the time I got home I was dripping, so I needed iced drinks to cool down and a lazy afternoon to recover!
(My apologies for the poor resolution of these photos. They look crisp and sharp on my computer but very unsharp when uploaded onto Blogger.)
First (going in reverse order) photos are sharp here. I've noticed sometimes blogger takes it time with big files opening them correctly. (Thought it was my laptop). The firetruck looks much the same as ours...duh, same job, just driving on the other side of the road. Yes that was quite a crowd, and I love the Air Force's tents. Hope it wasn't too hot! Yes, dragon boat races do sound exotic and fun (and noisy) but it's a limited spectator sport.
ReplyDeleteLots of people out enjoying the activities.
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a funny event ! Your photos are good I didn't see anything wrong ! We were melting today 36°C in our park, and only the big restaurant is air conditioned ! I managed to keep my room quite cool, I closed windows and curtains and had 27° which was not so bad, but it's really tiring I love warm weather, but too much is too much !
ReplyDeleteIt looks a very popular event and a nice day to be out. Too hot for some but we are freezing at the moment due to a cold wind from the south.
ReplyDeleteThe photos are very clear for me. Maybe check your settings on blogger, if they appear at a low resolution to you.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a good, well organised and well attended event. Emergency services here are constantly looking for ways to get people interested in their work, hopefully recruiting more young people, as the babyboomers are about to retire in a few years and then there will be hardly anyone left to work in those vital services.