Take place on May 28, 2017 at Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) in Entebbe, Uganda is only the second country in Africa after South Africa to hold a dragon boat festival and such will be the incentive, the Pearl of Africa needs to showcase its tourism potential to Asians.
The Dragon Boat festival has been organized by China Africa Friendship Association together with the Chinese Business Community, the Ministry of Tourism in Uganda and the Finance Trust bank.
“This is going to be a huge chance for Uganda to promote its culture to our people in China,” China ambassador to Uganda Zheng Zhou Qiang told TheUgandan about the weekend’s event. “The Dragon Boat Festival will promote cultural exchange between Uganda and China.”
The Chinese embassy will contribute Sh61m towards organizing the event.
State minister for tourism Godfrey Kiwanda Suubi says Uganda has a view of attracting over two million tourists from the Chinese market annually.
The event will pit local rowers against Chinese. The star attraction will be Moses Golola, a Ugandan self-made celebrity, entertainer, champion kickboxer, actor and investor known for building his personal brand. Eddy Kenzo, the only East African artist to win a BET award and his better half Rema Namakula will be the main entertainers.
The dragon boat festival started over 2000 years ago to honour patriotic poet Qu Yuan. It has grown into one of the most important traditional festivals in China through history. Every May and June, such races are held in China and around the world.
In Britain, dragon boat racing is one of the fastest growing and most exciting water sports. The British Dragon Boat Racing Association (BDA) runs a National League calendar for racing crews across the country plus the National Championships held annually at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham. The BDA, as reported on their website, is responsible for all aspects of the sport from community development to managing British teams racing abroad.
Author: stephenmuneza@gmail.com, +256772544870 or Twitter @stephenkmuneza
