Celebrating The Growth Of Colorado Dragon Boat Festival
6/28/2003

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About 150 people gathered in a studio at 9NEWS on June 25 to mingle and celebrate the growth of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival since its beginning in 2001.

The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival Steering Committee wanted to bring together the local business community with leaders within the Asian community to build bridges and to preview the upcoming third annual Festival, which will be held on Sunday, August 17 at Sloan?s Lake Park, 25th and Sheridan.

The striking poster for this third annual event was unveiled, and a short video of last year?s festival was shown. Special guest speakers including Denver City Council member Rick Garcia and Joanne Tabellija of Coors Brewing Company explained why they support the festival.The attendees received free art from several Festival vendors: Yunn Pann wrote name and messages in Chinese calligraphy; Paul Phua created on-the-spot watercolor paintings; and Pei-Li Zhang took the time to make intricate traditional Chinese paper cuttings for appreciative onlookers.

9NEWS talents Adele Arakawa, the area's top-rated news anchor, and reporter Quynh Nguyen served as emcees for the evening. Food and refreshments were provided by Coors, Sushi Redi and Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant.