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Date: 8/9/2023
SPRINGFIELD — The recent flooding of the Connecticut River led to the postponement of the Springfield Dragon Boat Festival; however, the event has been rescheduled with hopes that conditions remain safe.
This year marks the ninth annual Springfield Dragon Boat Festival, which is put on by the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club.
The festival is a community and cultural event as well as a competition.
PVRC Executive Director Ben Quick explained that a dragon boat is a 20-person canoe. The festival’s origins go back more than 2,000 years to China, as a celebration of life and patriotism. Quick shared that the festival came from one person’s resistance to tyranny and endures as a celebration and holiday in the Chinese culture.
The Springfield Dragon Boat Festival is made up of regional teams, most of which train all year. Quick said it is a “legit” race with timing and medals.
He shared that it is an opportunity for groups of people to come together and have fun and is also free for spectators to enjoy.
The event, which takes place at North Riverfront Park, was scheduled to take place on July 29, however the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection deemed conditions unsafe, leading to its postponement. Quick said the reason for the suspension was a “combination of a perfect storm.” First and foremost, the flooding was the biggest concern, along with a high current which presented safety challenges, a “bizarre factor of debris,” along with the rivers water quality. Quick said all agricultural runoff was still tainting the water.
He said that it was “freakish” for the Connecticut River to rise to springtime flooding in July.
Quick added that there were also thunderstorms forecast for that day and while the event does happen rain or shine, every thunder boom forces everyone out of the water for 30 minutes.
“[The] risks outweigh the reward,” he said.
The only other time the festival was postponed was during COVID-19.
He noted that people have been sympathetic about the festival being postponed.
At press time, Quick shared that a new festival date was determined, which is Oct. 14.
In past years, he said they have had as many as 600 racers and about 200 to 300 spectators. Quick shared that 500 people were registered for this year’s race, however, with the deadline pushed, registration has reopened. Interested participants can sign up online at pvriverfront.org.
Anyone can enter a team. Quick shared that the race lasts about one minute. “People can do anything for one minute,” he said. “The criteria to participate is that you have to be non-allergic to fun and physically, if you can raise your hands over your head, you can participate in the dragon boat race.”
As the PVRC is a nonprofit organization, Quick said proceeds are important to help provide and promote free and community programming to the 35 different zip codes that come to them for recreation.
Quick noted that the river conditions are now safe and back to normal operations, including the PVRC’s Free Family Friday Kayaking every week at 5:30 p.m.