To celebrate Chinese New Year, the official launch of the 2018 Milton Keynes Dragon Boat Festival took place last Friday 16 February at Melis Restaurant in Central Milton Keynes.
Dragon boat racing has an ancient Chinese history and the launch was timed to coincide with the start of the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Dog. The event was well attended with representatives from local press and radio, as well as MacIntyre staff and people supported by MacIntyre, Melis staff and the staff of Festival organisers Gable Events.
Gable Events brought a 30-foot dragon boat along, fully dressed with paddles for guests to try out on dry land and have a go at beating the drum. Following the launch, Melis provided a fantastic Turkish buffet lunch for all to enjoy. The highly rated Melis Turkish Restaurant is providing a special prize meal, sponsored by Merinvest, for the team raising the most sponsorship for MacIntyre at the Festival this year.
Will you enter a team?
Crews entered into the Festival will be invited to raise sponsorship for MacIntyre and we are excited to announce that we have entered our own team into the race.
All it takes is 17 enthusiastic people to form a crew: 16 paddlers and one drummer. There is always space for new crews to enter, or for companies who have not entered for a few years to have another go and relive past glories. The dragon boats, qualified helms and all racing equipment will be provided, no previous experience is required, and each crew is guaranteed a minimum of three races.
Do you still need convincing?
Listen to our Events & Corporate Fundraiser, Jessie, speak to MKFM about why the Dragon Boat Festival is the perfect team-building event.
To enter a team or for more information visit: www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/miltonkeynes or call Gable Events on 01780 470 718.
