Just when it seems like summer is slipping away, along comes one of the biggest festival weekends of the year.
Over on the north side of town, the Pentastic Hot Jazz and Music Festival runs hot and heavy this Friday through Sunday, taking over venues such as the Trade and Convention Centre, the SS Sicamous, the Elks Hall, and Orchard House Theatre.
Meanwhile down south, on the northern shore of Skaha Lake, the action will be just a wee bit more aquatic. It's the 19th annual Penticton Dragon Boat Festival, a monster of an event that'll see approximately 2,000 paddlers working up a sweat during its two-day run.
And although it's too late to register a team or jump in a boat, longtime race director Don Mulhall says that shouldn't dissuade people from attending.
"There's a big festival, a huge event built around the dragon boat racing. There's a beverage garden run by the breast cancer survivor team. There are tons of vendors - everything from jewelry to clothing to paddles, to you name it. And there's a bunch of food vendors with lots of great food."
And of course, there's the competition. "There's a race every ten minutes," says Mulhall. "So you can sit near the finish line and every ten minutes there's a whole new set of boats out there racing."
It costs nothing to watch, and there's no entry fee to the beverage garden. And one more thing. If you come to the festival, you might just get interested in the sport.
"It's a great sport for everybody," say Hulhall. "Men, women, younger people. We've got a seniors team here - pretty close to two full teams of seniors who train Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We've got women's teams, and a couple of mixed teams too."
"So we love it when people come out to watch, get totally excited about the sport, and then talk to us (the Penticton Dragon Boat Society). We run 'Come Try Dragon Boat' sessions in May and June, where we get people out and into the sport."
"We have about eight teams locally, and they're always looking for extra paddlers. So if you come out to the Come Try Dragon Boat, we hand you a list of the teams locally looking for paddlers when you finish. It's easier than trying to assemble an entire team of 20-plus people."
For Mulhall, it was an instant love affair.
"l love it as a sport. I loved it as a sport when I first started doing it 25 years ago. I was living in Vancouver, working with a credit union, and joined their dragon boat team and just loved the sport of paddling."
He loved it so much that he soon graduated to the role of organizer.
"It's my 19th year running the Penticton festival. It's a non-profit society here in Penticton, but before that I was with another non-profit society that ran dragon boat events all around the province - places like Victoria, Nanaimo, Vernon and Kamloops."
These days, Mulhall and crew also handle management for races in locales like Salmon Arm and, in a couple weeks, Osoyoos. And right after the Penticton event, they'll zip up to Kelowna to manage the dragon boat discipline in the 55+ BC Games.
This weekend, Mulhall expects 70 teams, including squads from "all over BC ad Alberta," to participate in what he says is the second biggest dragon boat festival in the entire province. Considering paddlers often bring along family and friends, the impact to the local economy is substantial.
Competition both Saturday and Sunday begins at 8 a.m., and should end by approximately 3:30. Note that parking near the Skaha Lake Park festival grounds will be at a premium, so give yourself an extra few minutes walking time.
For more information, hit up the website.
