The Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana hosts their annual Dragon Boat Festival. This festival involves 21 teams competing in a rowing competition on the bayou.
Each team will be on a 40-foot-long boat, with 16 rowers and one drummer to keep the rhythm. The teams are made up of different organizations in the community, along with some youth rowers from places like Neville High School and Ruston High School.
Deidra Adir, the executive director of the Children's Coalition, mentions the basis of the rowing competition. "It's all about teamwork... it's a great team building event," Adir voices.
Along with the rowing competition, the Dragon Boat Festival also features food trucks, a raffle drawing, jumpers, a kid's area, and so many more fun activities.
Brittany Jeavy, the development director for the Children's Coalition, talks about who will be benefitting from the festival. Jeavy states, "the proceeds raised for this event goes back into our organization to help fund our programs and resources."
Although it is a competition, she claims that, "Ultimately, the true winners are the children in our community."
Sponsors for the event include Homeland Bank, Marsala Beverage, ULM VCOM, Choice Brands, and more.
The festival will begin with an opening ceremony and parade at 9 a.m. The rowing competition and other activities will commence at 10 a.m.
The location for this event will be at the Edgewater Dam, right next to the Warhawk Way Bridge. The best spectating view will be from the bridge, where the food trucks and team tents will be set up.
The road Warhawk Way will be closed from Friday at 10:30 a.m. until Saturday evening. It will be shut down from Desiard Street to Bon Aire Drive, to ensure the safety of people walking over to the event.
Attendees are encouraged to park in triangle parking. There will also be parking at Strauss Hall and the university house where there is a pathway that leads directly to the bridge.
More information about the Dragon Boat Festival, and how to become a sponsor of the event can be found at https://www.childrenscoalition.org/dragon-boat-festival.html.
