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The Year Of The Dragon

To celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Dragon, Willen Hospice has joined with Gable Events to launch the 11th Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival. The 2012 Festival takes place on Sunday 24th June on Willen Lake in aid of Willen Hospice.

Dragon Boat Festival 2012

Up to 60 crews representing companies, organisations, clubs and groups of friends from all over Milton Keynes and the surrounding area are expected to compete in the 200m races across Willen Lake.

All the teams will be battling it out to knock last year's winners(from Ian Smith Construction and Pell Frischmann) off their pedestal and beat last year’s impressive fundraising total of more than £20,000.

There are a limited number of gold and silver boat sponsorship opportunities designed to give companies the chance to increase their profile at the Festival whilst raising much needed additional funds for Willen Hospice.

Book your place today

For further information and an entry form please visit:
www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/miltonkeynes (opens new window), 
or call Gable Events on 01780 470 718 or speak to Willen Hospice Community Fundraising (Elaine) on 306991.

image courtesy of Satalight Photography

What to expect

According to the Chinese calendar, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon which may result in some interesting races as the dragon is said to be all powerful but completely unpredictable! It also symbolises great success and happiness, so the winning teams should be even more excited than usual in their victories!

*No previous experience is required to take part in the dragon boat racing, just plenty of team spirit so why not take up the challenge?

*The dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment are provided and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races.

*The Festival is supported by Heart 103.3 and offers a full day of fun on land as well as water with plenty of activities on the bankside to entertain teams and spectators between races.

*The top fundraisers for Willen Hospice will win the charity trophy plus a special meal courtesy of The Swan in Salford.

Team building and raising funds

Paul Hinson, Willen Hospice Chief Executive, said:
“We are delighted to be partnering the 2012 Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival. This annual event is a fantastic, fun group activity which will bring together the community of Milton Keynes to help raise much needed and vital funds for Willen Hospice”.

Carol Lester, Director of festival organisers, Gable Events, adds:
“The Festival is a great chance for companies and organisations to try something completely different, promote themselves to a large local audience, network with local companies and potential clients and raise money for Willen Hospice. It is also a fantastic team building opportunity - what better way to get to know what makes your colleagues and competitors tick?! We expect the Festival to be as popular as ever this time around so we recommend teams get their entries in early to guarantee a place”.

A bit of Dragon Boat history

Dragon boat racing has an ancient Chinese history and the Festival is a re-enactment of a tragic event that took place more than 2,000 years ago in the kingdom of Chu. Legend has it that falsely accused of treason and exiled by jealous rivals in the government, despairing warrior poet, Qu Yuan, threw himself into the Mi Lo River. Local fishermen rowed out to save the drowning poet and tried to rescue him from vicious fish by beating the water with their paddles. But their attempts failed and every year in Hong Kong a Tuen Ng (Dragon Boat) Festival is held as a mark of respect for the fishermen’s frantic efforts and to commemorate the tragic death of Qu Yuan.

See some pictures of last year's event here

The Willen Team - Dragon Boat Festival 2011