Photo by 22 Dragons.

CAPE MAY — A Dragon Boat Festival is coming to Cape May Harbor.

On Oct. 13, long boats with 10 rows of seats to accommodate 20 paddlers, a drummer who faces the crew and a helmsman who steers, will fill the water in front of the Nature Center. The rowers will be local folks.

At a Tue., Jan. 10 Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May meeting, Cathy Sauerzopf, chamber office manager, said 22 Dragons, a Canadian company, would arrive with boats, vests, timers, paddles and a staff.
She said the festival would be a great fundraiser. Companies and community groups race against each other, according to a video from 22 Dragons.

Dragon Boating can be done by anyone with minimal practice. It began in China 2,000 years ago.

Sauerzopf said she has been competing in a Dragon Boat race in Philadelphia for six years. Our local race will take place on a 200-meter race course in Cape May Harbor in the vicinity of the Nature Center. The races would each run two to three minutes.
Between two and eight boats race at a time in three timed events. A small event may include 20 boats, according to a 22 Dragons video.

Most Dragon Boat festivals feature local businesspersons, firefighters, police officers, teachers, teens and senior citizens. One or two practice sessions are needed to prepare the rowers, who row in unison, sort of like those on a Viking ship.
Vendors and entertainment would set up at the event.

According to 22 Dragons, the festival need not cost its host any money and the opportunity exists to raise thousands for charities.
Sauerzopf said each team would pay a fee to have a Dragon Boat which pays for the cost of the boats. She said 14 teams in 14 boats would cover the cost of the festival.

“So if we get 20 teams, we’ve made money, the more teams, the more money,” said Sauerzopf.

Each team, after paying for the cost of using the boat, can fund raise for their charity or non-profit organization by seeking sponsors. She said there are Dragon Boat Festivals in all 50 states and 50 countries worldwide.

The only Dragon Boat Festival in New Jersey takes place in Mercer, said Sauerzopf. If the chamber charges $50 per seat in a boat that amounts to $1,000 per boat, she said.
Doreen Talley, marketing director for the chamber, said a small festival would have 20 to 40 teams. For the entire event, 22 Dragons charges $14,000, she said.
With 14 boats participating, the event would pay for itself, said Talley.

She said Dragon Boat teams from other areas would come to Cape May for the festival. She said Philadelphia’s event has drawn nearly 200 Dragon Boat teams.

The timing of the event would put the festival in Cape May’s shoulder season in a month that has Oktoberfest, Victorian Week and the Lima Bean Festival.

“I’ve already thought of a name for our team, the Cream Puffs,” said chamber member Linda Steenrod. “We’re new at this.”