Uptown Dragon Boat Race and Festival

Calling all adventure seekers! In celebration of the Grand Opening of Whitewater, Uptown Columbus is hosting the very first Dragon Boat Festival, featuring the Uptown Dragon Boat race down the Chattahoochee River. The festival is scheduled for May 25 on the RiverWalk in front of the Coca-Cola Space Science Center. Start time is noon; registration fee for the race is $1200 for a corporate team and $800 for a community team. Teams are made up of 20 paddlers and one drummer. Participants must be 14 years old to paddle and 12 years old to be a drummer. During this exciting Memorial Day weekend of festivities, Columbus will not only debut dragon boats for the first time on the Chattahoochee, but also will be officially opening the river for whitewater rafting, part of the much anticipated Ready 2 Raft campaign to establish the longest urban whitewater course on the Chattahoochee River. 

“Dragon Boat Racing is great fun for anyone, young or old. This local event will attract primarily co-ed teams from corporations, public service groups, small businesses, high schools, colleges and universities,” said Uptown Columbus CEO, Richard Bishop. “It is also expected that a handful of dragon boat club teams will travel to Columbus for the weekend to participate.” There are now over 70 communities hosting Dragon Boat Festivals in the U.S. alone, and over 60 million participants worldwide.

Entering your own dragon boat team in the races is easy. Paddles, life vests, boats and steerspersons will be provided, as well as a one training session in advance of the event. Each team just has to provide 20 paddlers − a minimum of 8 must be female and must include a drummer. On race day each team will race in three heats on a 350m course.  

High Five Dragon Boat, a national event marketing and production company, has partnered up with Uptown Columbus to put on this spectacular event for the community of Columbus.  A portion of the event’s proceeds will be given to the Children’s Miracle Network at Columbus Regional Children’s Hospital.

If you’re interested in entering your own Dragon Boat team, visit http://www.uptowncolumbusdragonboat.com for details, or contact High Five Dragon Boat at 813.426.3544.

More Information on Website: www.uptowncolumbusdragonboatfestival.com

The Addams Family at RiverCenter for the Performing Arts

Come meet the family. We’ll leave the lights off for you!

Called “A visually satisfying, rib-tickling, lunatic musical that will entertain you to death!” by the Toronto Post City, this smash-hit comedy brings to spooky and spectacular life the darkly delirious world of Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Grandma, Wednesday, Pugsley, and of course, Lurch.

Magnificently macabre, the musical was created by Jersey Boys authors Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, Drama Desk-winning composer-lyricist Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys) and Olivier Award-winning director-designers Phelim McDermott & Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter) with production supervision by four-time Tony Award®-winner Jerry Zaks.

More Information on Website: www.rivercenter.org