Craving a trip to Asia that your travel budget just won’t allow? Find a Dragon Boat Festival near you for a quick dose of Asian culture. This celebration, which involves racing boats that are 40 feet long and shaped like dragons, originated over 2,000 years ago in Southern China. Today the sport of Dragon Boat racing and the celebration of Dragon Boat festivals can be seen around the world.

The 2011 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival is a free event and family-friendly cultural adventure in Denver. Join thousands of revelers July 30-31, 2011 at Sloan’s Lake Park to be a part of the cultural! There will be traditional Asian performances, cuisine, unique arts and crafts- all influenced from the broad reaches of Asia- China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, India, Malaysia, Indonesia the Philippines, and Polynesia. But of course, the most exciting part is the races!

Reaching for the win!

Each boat contains 18 paddlers, a drummer and a steersman. So you get to watch 18 people sit inside an intricately designed Chinese dragon and row to a drum beat, while 18 people inside a just as intricately designed dragon next to them try to do the same, but faster. How could you not have fun?

Learn more about the 2011 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival by visiting http://www.cdbf.org/.

Even if only a staycation is in the cards for you this season, there is still probably a cultural adventure to be had right in your back yard! What’s going on in your area?