UK Chinese Dragon Boat Festival 2024
June delivered a real splash of activity with a number of exciting projects. The team geared up for the annual Chinese Dragon Boat Festival brought to Media City and Salford Quays. Working closely with Salford City Council, The British Dragon Boat Racing Association, XCA and the Chinese community to bring this spectacular event to life.
Our second year of being part of this incredible world-renowned event, we immersed ourselves into the 2-day event. A running social media presence was actioned to capture live races, performances and to take in the celebratory energy that set the quays alive with colour and vibrant traditions.
Our team was deployed to weave through the festival to take in the camaraderie and event entertainment from every angle. The build-up to the Dragon Boat races on each day were filled with excitement as teams from different regions and backgrounds come together to compete. With paddles to the ready, we captured everything from the team pre-race huddles to them limbering up and taking their positions. They certainly do take the competition very seriously indeed.
As the festival unfolded, we witnessed colourful parades, lively performances, and a festive atmosphere that resonated with joy and enthusiasm. The intricately crafted dragon boats sailed past to the roaring cheers of spectators lining the quays. Drone footage was captured to get the sense of actually what it feels like to be slicing through the water at speed.
Along with the live footage that was documented through the social media channels our photography team were taking images to be used for future events and for the gallery on their website.
On the run up to the event the Rockfield Media team really enjoyed understanding the cultural traditions and especially the vast amount of people who get involved in similar festivals all over the world. The social media posts reflected the meaning of this event and how much being part of a Dragon Boat team means. Managing the website to ensure it was fully up-to-date with all the information needed for the event and to always link the social media coverage back to the website was very important as this is not just a local event it is televised in China too and brings huge audience viewings.
The location for The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is an iconic urban waterfront destination. Spectacularly positioned on the banks of the historic Manchester Ship Canal. An impressive ever changing back drop glistens to reflect the water and the infamous Manchester weather. MediaCity is a hive of creative activity and culture and is the perfect place to visit, walk around and soak up the vibrant energy. Dressed in CDBF flags, banners and traditional Chinese lanterns it truly was a breath-taking colour pop.
Festival Branding from print design, brochures and leaflets together with festival banners were all undertaken prior to the event. With digital media boards activated the month prior to the event to set the city alight with the vibrant brand colour blocks. It was a literal Dragon takeover. With it being The Year of The Dragon too it was a hugely auspicious year.
A thoroughly enjoyable cultural event that was a huge success for all involved and a real delight to be part of.
