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Monday, August 27, 2012

Dragon Boat Marta First Festival 2012


This year for the first time in recent history a Dragon Boat Racing Competition was held in Marta during the Festa del Villano. The races were held on the Sunday and as we had been watching the Marta team training on the lake we thought it would be interesting to go along and watch. I am glad we did as it was fun and I hope it will become another annual event in Marta's social calender. 



The story of the return of Dragon Boat Racing to Marta after twenty years makes interesting reading on the Marta Dragon Website, it is in Italian but using Google Translate will give you the gist of the article. I have included here just one page translated by Google, not me, so forgive the grammatical errors, just to explain the return of this sport to Marta.  

... One Sunday in the summer of 2011, the village of Marta, on the shores of Lake Bolsena, was shaken by the distant sound of drums and rhythmic ... He was a familiar sound, known ... It evokes memories ... For twenty years he did not feel ... In the 'air we breathe lakeside intense curiosity ... Who recalls the memory ...
Turning his gaze out to sea you can see a strange craft approaching ... It has the elongated shape, especially the head and tail of DRAGO ... Twenty intrepid rowers, while the drum, allowing it to push the plane ... The breeze brings happiness in the country, those who remember are overwhelmed with emotion ... And 'resurrected the Dragon of Martha ... Back to the Dragon Boat on Lake Bolsena ... Comes the crew of the "DRAGON MARTA" ...
The "DRAGON MARTA" comes from 'idea and the dream of a group of youths in the country, to resume the discipline of the Dragon Boat Martha and stopped twenty years ago, ready and willing to point out the history and business of the crews of the previous small medieval village, "Tomao" and "Amalasunta", legendary successes, regional, national and global, which testifies to the participation and success in the Championship Final of the World Dragon Boat Hono Kong in 1991.
To date the crew, male and female, is made both to young talent that the old guards, combining the strength and enthusiasm of youth and 'experience during the past battles, a mix to optimize efforts and work of the group.
After a 'summer of intense training and demonstration outputs, the group comes out, he enrolled as a group of sports' Cultural Association "Marta without borders" in order to concentrate forces in the country of Marta, you pass to' FIDB (Federation Italian Dragon Boat) and participates in the first competitive event, the two days of the Roman "1st Rome International Dragon Boat Festival", now getting the 3 rd place in the race of 2000 meters.
2012 promises a year of intense competitive activity for the crew "Marta Dragon" as evidenced by the schedule of 'FIDB and the return of Marta in the country for the month of July event at the national level for the discipline of the Dragon Boat. ..  For more information check out the website: Marta Dragon Website,
There is also a connection with Breast Cancer Survivors.

                                                          

History of Dragon Boat Racing:

Dragon Boat Racing is a popular sport all over the world, the boat is 12.66 meters long and 1.06 meters wide with its head and tail in the shape of a dragon. These boats are driven by 20 athletes to the rhythm from the drummer, who use paddles with a length of 1.05 m and 1.30 ft wide, while the helmsman at the stern of the boat takes the direction with an oar about 3 meters long. 
The origins of the sport date back 2000 years ago when according to legend, the Chinese poet and statesman Qu Yuan threw himself 'in the river Mi-Lo a desperate act to protest against the harassment of which he was subjected his people by the government at that time.  Fishermen went on boats to search for the body of Qu Yuan forcefully slamming the waters with the oars to drive away the fish. This gave birth to  a tradition that remembers that day and is celebrated all over the East on the fifth day of the fifth moon. Since then it has grown with the forming many different federations all over the world.    

The best way in my opinion to view the photos of the event is as a video/slideshow so I have included two in the post. The first is my own and the second one is a friends, if however you are unable to view them the individual photos can be viewed in my album on Flickr.com entitled  Dragon Boat Racing    
                                                 Marta Dragon Boats - LindyLouMac



Published on YouTube by .

For more information about the world of Italian and International Dragon Boat Racing I have included some links you may find useful and of interest.


29 comments:

  1. The local rotary in Oxford used to organise a yearly Dragon Boat race. We used to really enjoy it so I can understand how you would enjoy it under an Italian sky :-) Have a good week Diane

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  2. Bit like a Gondola on steroids. We also have Dragon Boat races in Melbourne on the Yarra River.

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  3. MY dear
    It's great that returned this institution of sport. I had never heard of this story of Dragon Boat Racing. Thank you for sharing this !
    Olympia

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  4. Wat fun! We also have them here in Amsterdam!

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  5. Oh, I love Dragon Boat races!

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  6. Ciao Lindy!
    Thanks for leaving a comment about your location in Lazio. I do know that we will probably arrive (we are driving) in Rome late Friday night, October 12th. At that time we are going to take a shuttle (from our hotel near the autostrada outside of Rome) into Rome to explore ristoranti. The next day we have tours booked and we will be in Rome on Sunday for a half day before departing for the Amalfi Coast. I know that schedules are difficult to coordinate, and so this is what I can give you at this time.

    About the Dragon Boat race . . . this is something totally new to me! I am so happy that you are able to enjoy all of the festivals so that you have new excursions and outings to enjoy! Thank you for sharing these special times!

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  7. There is similar race in Japan but it's not a dragon but a usual boat. :D

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  8. Fascinating post, I enjoyed reading the history surrounding the event in particular.

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  9. It's nice to have these traditions in a place so let's hope it continues for many a year!

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  10. OH MY!!! so excited to find your blog! I'm a southern gal from loosiana/texas in the states and will be coming to your great country in only 2 weeks! Hubby is giving me the gift of my lifetime...for our 35th anniversary, he has gifted me with a 2 month trip to Italia.....ALONE!! To travel, explore and learn all about your culture and about me!
    Loved this story and cannot wait to read more of your News From Italy!!

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  11. There is a Dragon Boat festival here every August and it is a huge event. I've never participated, but I DID go kayaking for a few hours yesterday!

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  12. Another festival! Hope this one stays around for a while. Must be a ton of fun!

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  13. Your lake looks like the ideal place to hold this event. It must take a lot of team work even with the beat of the drum. I had no idea so many athletes were involved in each boat. I wonder which team won?

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  14. That must be nice to watch ! Google translations always make me laugh, you need a lot of phantasy to understand the translation ! I once sat on the desk while my cat typed on the keyboard. (Google translation !)

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  15. What an interesting post - so many interesting things happening over there in Italy.

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  16. How neat. I love those boats and your pictures are fabulous. Thanks for sharing, Ginger

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  17. This is so flippin' cool. I wish we had dragon boat races on Lake Martin! :D

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  18. It is very interesting the Dragon boat competition. The shape of boats are very unique.
    Thank you very much for sharing.

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  19. I’m familiar with the dragon boat in the moon viewing festival here in Nara. Dragon boat competition looks fun to see many dragons swimming. The revival of the race looks timely as this year is the “Year of the Dragon”.

    Yoko

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  20. Beautiful slide show! And it looks like so much fun -- I've heard of these boats before, but didn't know the interesting history. Thank you!

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  21. Thanks for visiting...I love your beautiful photos and all the info.
    I can't imagine leaving the states and living in another country. I think you and your hubby are very brave to live your dream. Kuddos to you both.
    xo bj

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  22. What an interesting history of this sport. I never heard of it before.

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  23. We have Dragon Racing here...the boats are beautiful! Thank you for stopping by and saying hello!!!

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  24. Lindy
    What a wonderful race! The boat itself looks as if a dragon is swimming in water. In Japan, dragons are considered as the deities of water as they invite clouds and rain.
    It is good that on the day of racing it was a beautiful weather!!
    Have a wonderful week.
    keiko

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  25. My SIL hubby is a coach on their dragonboat racing team. It seems to be very popular. Great photos and vidoeo.

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  26. Wow!! Those dragon boats are even better than I anticipated. :-) Such a cool thing to watch. :-)

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  27. What a wonderful sport..kind of reminds me of Hawaii and their canoes..
    I think it is great to see this tradition carried on..Just beautiful boats.
    xoRosebud/Carolyn

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  28. Very nice composition, creative History of Dragon Boat Racing, I love. Greetings.

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  29. Thank you Lindy for including me in your blog-roll! You have a wonderful blog and I enjoy coming here. :)

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