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The Seventh Annual Rowan Chamber Dragon Boat Festival will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. July 24 at The Shrine Club on High Rock Lake, 6480 Long Ferry Road, Salisbury.

Team entries, corporate sponsorships and vendor opportunities are still open for the event.

The Rowan Chamber Dragon Boat Festival has traditionally been the largest annual spectator event held on High Rock Lake, the second largest lake in North Carolina. The festival includes vendors, food trucks and activities for the whole family in a park like atmosphere.

The 2021 Rowan Chamber Dragon Boat Festival event chairman is Daniel Matangira, and he is ready to lead the volunteer event committee to jumpstart the summer entertainment in 2021. Last year’s event was canceled due to COVID 19.

“The Dragon Boat Festival instills team building, family fun and clean-competition,” said Matangira. “I have been waiting a long time to defend our 2019 championship with the Matangira Recycling & Cardinal Tire/Gator Bites team. As a local small business owner, this event promotes a true sense of community and is a fundraiser to enhance the Chamber’s resources for small businesses of Rowan County. I am extremely proud of how our community has supported this amazing event in the past, and in a few short months, this Dragon Boat Festival will certainly be one for the record books as residents will be ready to venture out to the Lake to look at what all of the excitement is about.”

The event is free to attend, and guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets and make it a fun lakeside party. However, no pets, coolers nor outside food will be allowed. Parking is $5 per car and available in adjacent lots to the Shrine Club. Rowan Tourism will provide trolley rides between the parking areas and the Shrine Club property. Boats are welcome to view from the main channel or can dock behind the Shrine Club to enjoy the food and festivities.

Dragon Boat racing is a 2,300-year-old tradition from Ancient China with boats donned with dragon heads, tails and scales that seat 20 paddlers each. Colorful drummers sit in the bow pounding the drum to the beat of the paddlers’ stroke, and a steersperson stands in the stern guiding the team down the water racecourse.

For more information, contact the Rowan Chamber at 704-633-4221 or info@rowanchamber.com or www.rowanchamberdragonboat.org.