From serious competitors to first-time observers, nearly 5,000 people gathered Saturday along Hartford’s riverfront for the annual Dragon Boat and Asian Festival that attracts spectators from around the region and beyond.
On a hot day, racing teams competed with both accomplished veterans who have been training for months and lower-skilled competitors having a good time.
Based on a centuries-old Chinese tradition, each team has 20 paddlers and a “drummer,” who essentially serves as the quarterback and overseer of the team.
In addition to the excitement of the races, the daylong festival featured a kaleidoscope of food that included everything from Thai and Vietnamese specialties to fried dough, curly fries, ice cream and snow cones.
The event provided a boost of activity for Hartford on a summer Saturday on what otherwise might have been a quiet day in the capital city. Friends, family and competitors traveled to the riverfront, and the license plates in a parking garage near the festival showed cars from Missouri, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, among others.
“This is an amazing event because it’s not only corporate teams, but then there are teams from all over New England — Vermont and the NYPD,” said Cathy Malloy, the chief executive officer of the Greater Hartford Arts Council, which helps promote the festival. “Some of these teams travel all over.”
One of the top teams of the day arrived from China and finished its first heat in only 2 minutes, 9 seconds for the 500-meter course. That was far faster than some of the teams that took more than 3 1/2 minutes for the same length on the river.
Malloy, the wife of former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, attended a dragon boat festival in China more than a decade ago as part of a sister-city visit when her husband served as the mayor of Stamford. Now, as head of the arts council, she has been helping promote nine different celebrations and festivals throughout the summer that have brought crowds to the capital city.
On the river, teams were paddling feverishly as they competed in qualifying races that were based on the fastest times. As they moved into the later rounds, they competed against teams of a similar skill level that had reached similar times.
Two of the largest participants Saturday were The Hartford, which had 10 teams competing, and Aetna, which had six. Bradford Geyer, who coordinated the efforts for The Hartford, said the paddlers included actuaries, lawyers, paralegals, cyber-security professionals and others from around the company.
“It’s a big, fun event,” Geyer said. “It’s also a great networking opportunity.”
Employees said they originally started with only two teams at The Hartford and eventually expanded to 10 through word of mouth as the popularity of the event spread. While the employees touted camaraderie, they said they were also competitive and last year picked up six medals.
The paddlers from Aetna have expanded their efforts following a corporate takeover with new colleagues from across the state border.
“We’re waking up at 5 in the morning, and some of our team drove from Rhode Island because they work at the CVS building,” said Jackie McDonald, an accountant who captained one of Aetna’s teams. “We have a mixture of all different departments.”
The Sikorsky Sea Dragons, representing the helicopter manufacturer from Stratford, included aircraft designers, marketing specialists and engineers, among others.
“We only practice twice a year,” said Henry Chen, a Sikorsky engineer who is the team captain. “Most people live in Fairfield County.”
Trinity College, which has been competing for more than five years, fields a team that is open to faculty, staff, students and alumni.
“You don’t have to have any experience,” said Andrew Concatelli, a college spokesman who participated. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a great way to spend a day.”
Michael Zaleski, the chief executive officer at Riverfront Recapture, said Hartford boasts one of the top 10 dragon boat races in the country with more than 1,400 participants on the 71 teams.
“Dragon boat racing is the fastest-growing, on-water team sport,” Zaleski said. “This is a fun event for us. There is no better view of the Hartford skyline than from the Connecticut River. … We’re trying to bring more people into the park system seven days a week.”
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.
