Banff Lake Louise News

The event was perfect, the weather was perfect and everyone is happily exhausted after 2 days of dragon boating and volunteering in between races!

I would like to send out kudos to the racers who came out to not only race in the Banff National Park Dragon Boat Festival, but to also give a hand when needed. The thing about events is they take a lot of people contributing their time to make it a success... this event was a HUGE success!

Saturdays races split the teams into their divisions, A, B and C. Sunday saw the teams fighting to place in the medal positions.

Gold medals went to - CP Dragnum out of Calgary in division A, while division B was won by "TomAto Tomato" also out of Calgary, and division C was won by a LOCAL team... "One Beer Too Many" aka Henry's Electric.

Curious as to how we did? "Feel the Burn" aka Banff Lake Louise Tourism placed second in the B division races. Considering we had some paddlers who had never paddled a dragon boat until that day, and the rest of us had only paddled maybe 7 times, I'm incredibly impressed with our drive to succeed at everything we do!

A press release just landed in my inbox...about our ski resorts and their opening dates.

Yes, I know, it's only the middle of August... but guess what?! They'll be running the chair lifts in a little over 2 months. Can you believe it?

If the weather cooperates with the resorts then here are the dates you should be marking in your calendars:

Sunshine Village: November 7, 2008

Lake Louise Mountain Resort: November 8, 2008

Ski Norquay: December 5, 2008 for full operation, but if all you need to get you through the early season is one chairlift and mini snow park then stop by on a weekend starting early November.

So get your skis and boards tuned up, track down your goggles and mitts and lets starting thinking snow... for November!

On August 22, Banff National Park will have 22 Buddhist Monks from Calgary's Avatamsaka Monastery visiting the shores of Lake Minnewanka to bless the dragon boats that are being used in the weekend's races.

The Eye Dotting Ceremony (the blessing) is an ancient ritual of "awakening the dragon" in which the Monks paint the eyes on each of the dragon boat figureheads to call forth their spirits. Chinese culture will be celebrated with traditional Chinese dancers and various other activities through out the festival.

Community spirit runs rampant in Banff National Park with 8 local teams entered (none of whom have ever paddled a dragon boat before I might add) and 7 'more experienced' teams from out of town competing in the races.

Banff Lake Louise Tourism, Town of Banff, Brewster Inc., local firefighters, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Banff Caribou Properties, Home Wise Renovations, and Henry's Electric will all be vying for local bragging rights throughout the weekend and once the boat wakes have calmed and the races are finished on Sunday August 24 the awards ceremony will take place.

Here's a little teaser video we created during the first ever paddle of the Banff Lake Louise Tourism team!

Join us in cheering on each of the teams on Saturday August 23 & Sunday August 24, and watch history in the making for the inaugural year of the Banff National Park Dragon Boat Festival!

We might be a small mountain town, but we know how to throw a party!

The Town of Banff has invited 4 of Canada's top acts to take the stage on Thursday August 21 for an "all day music extravaganza" to celebrate the refreshing our beautiful Banff Avenue underwent last summer.

Ron Sexsmith, Joel Plaskett Emergency, K-OS and Theory of a Deadman will be taking the stage in the middle of our redesigned, pedestrian friendly downtown from 1:00PM - 9:00PM.

Banff Live is free (here we are offering yet another free day of activities... we just can't help ourselves!) and will be an experience you won't want to miss... so come on out, join us and enjoy!