St Louis Dragon Boat Festival

St Louis has a Dragon Boat Festival every year, but Steve just noticed this event from his colleagues forum this year. 

This morning, we went to see the race and found that Boeing also has a team competing. We might be joining the team if they have one again next year.  It's just for fun, not the serious competition like the Dragon Boat race in Penang, Malaysia. They train very hard if you join a team in Penang.

Here, the festival raises money for charity and is a family fun event.
也許美國注重的是大人小孩一起玩樂，我看到的是很不一樣的龍舟賽。

This group cheers on friends & family as they get ready to race. 

One race is going on in the background, while teams on the beach prepare to launch their boats for the next race.  The first round had 10 races, each with 3 or 4 boats competing, so, with 20 people per boat, there were over 600 people racing!

This team's drummer has a funny Dragon costume. 

Row, row, row! Almost to the finish line.  The race is 400m (about 1/4 mile.)

At the same time, there are some things to see.

Zoo, baby animals.

Kids' playgrounds.

Face painting.

Sand volleyball and live band music.