On the water, by a stage or meandering among booths Sunday at the 10th annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, there was no escaping the beat by the shores of Sloan’s Lake.
A traditionally dressed, Indonesian-style percussive orchestra on the main stage used small hammers and bronze instruments to clang and chime the Eastern harmonies of a traditional Balinese village.
Denver resident Jon Ellison is a member of Tunas Mekar and said that in the 10 years the gamelan has performed at the festival, he’s seen the celebration balloon.
“It’s so huge now, it’s just crazy,” he said.
Event organizers did not have attendance estimates for Sunday, though the weekend total was expected to reach at least 100,000 people.
Booths offered peeks at acupuncture, Chinese medicine, feng shui and meditation in line with the festivals “Zen in 2010” theme.Near the water, the slow and metronomelike bass drums signaled rowers to dip their paddles and pull, propelling their 20-person boats forward in two-boat races all day.
Erik Ong’s team practiced for about two months, sometimes sitting on the edge of a pool and rowing to the beat of the boat’s drummer.
“It’s all about being in sync,” Ong said. “If you’re in sync, you’re more powerful.”
The rhythms were less precise in the competitors’ waiting area, where a haphazard jamboree of bongos, a tall and multipiped instrument called a khane, cymbals and makeshift noisemakers entertained the crowd.
Like pied pipers, when the half-dozen players from the Lao Buddhist Temple left, they drew onlookers into an impromptu procession through the festival grounds past old-school funk beats at a break-dancing workshop and past a drum display sponsored by the Children’s Museum, which was much more cacophany than identifiable rhythm.
Denver resident Pete Wahlers adopted his two youngest sons from Korea and attends the festival every year.
“We love the Asian culture,” Wahlers said. “And it’s a good festival for the family.”
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
