As part of NE1’s Summer in the City programme, the Dragon Boat race is returning. The summer finale promises a thrilling day of culture, colour, and competition transforming Newcastle’s iconic Quayside into a vibrant waterfront festival.
00:00As part of anyone's summer in the city programme, the unmissable finale promises a thrilling day of culture, colour and competition,
00:07transforming Newcastle's iconic Quayside into a vibrant waterfront festival.
00:12So we're really excited to be bringing the Dragon Boat race back this year for its fifth year and this year is going to be its biggest one yet.
00:19We've got 25 teams on the day who are all going to be lined up on the Quayside in their marquees, ready to go and race on the water.
00:26So what they'll be doing is they're all going to be on the actual River Tyne in these big boats and they're going to be racing from anyone's Newcastle City Marina all the way up to near the Millennium Bridge, all trying to get the fastest time.
00:39So they'll be doing a couple of heats throughout the day. The atmosphere is going to be absolutely amazing with people cheering them on.
00:44And then ultimately at the end of the day, we're going to have one team who will be crowned Dragon Boat Race champions for 2025.
00:50The races begin at 10am sharp with teams fiercely competing in heats throughout the day.
00:56And only the fastest make it through to the grand finale at 3pm.
01:00The champions will then be crowned in a special presentation ceremony at 4pm on dry land.
01:06So it's really interesting actually to see on the day because the boats are actually long Viking boats that have a dragon's face on the end.
01:13And there's going to be 11 to 16 people rowing in each boat with a big drummer at the end, trying to get them all in rhythm and get them to the end of the race line.
01:21So it's a really interesting thing to watch as well.
01:24So we've got the most teams ever participating this year, which is really exciting.
01:27And we've gone all out on entertainment on the day as well to make it a really great day for families to enjoy while they're spectating as well.
01:35So we've got some crafts, some traditional crafts.
01:39We've got some dragon mask crafts as well, which is really fun.
01:42We've also got some bubble artists on the day and we've got loads of face painters lined up too.
01:46So to kick off the activities on the day and also round off the summer events calendar, we'll be starting the event with a traditional lion dance as well, which is a really crazy thing to watch.
01:58It's really vibrant and colourful and it's super exciting.
02:01So it's definitely worth coming down to watch.
02:03That starts at 10am.
02:05Together they'll be battling not just for glory, but for a good cause, raising vital funds for the Great North Children's Hospital at the RBI.
02:13Last year's race raised over £20,000 for Newcastle Hospitals Trust, with even more raised for local charities.
02:21And this year hopes to go even further.
02:23So it's not only just a great day for people to come down and watch or participate in, it's also actually all for a really great cause.
02:30So the whole day is in support of the Great North Children's Hospital, which is a fantastic charity based in the North East.
02:36So all of the money raised will go towards them at the end of the day.
02:40And we've got some little activities as well.
02:42The army are bringing down a little hang tough activation for you to try out and raise more money.
02:48And we've also got a raffle lined up as well, which has got some fantastic prizes, which we'll be announcing soon on our social channels,
02:55that people can get involved in and raise money through there as well and also win some great prizes.
Be the first to comment