We're in the midst of the gold rush during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, but now's the time to dream of the medals you can win in the dragon boat races this summer at CDBF!
We're now accepting registrations for Race Teams, so get your friends, family and co-workers together and form teams. The races are fun, thrilling team-building experiences, and you'll be hooked if you've never paddled at CDBF before!
Our races have grown obver the years, from 16 original teams to 50 or more in recent years.
We now own a fleet of two Taiwan-style "Flag Catcher" boats and six competitive, Hong Kong-style boats. The popular Flag Catcher teams fill up fast, so sign up now to reserve your space. You'll be able to practice on water before the festival.

Leshner Del Rosario, who with his wife Sarah operates the award-winning Filipino food cart Orange Crunch (two-time winner of the CDBF Culinary Contest's top honors), has been busy for over a month, planning and recruiting partners for Breweries & Foodies, a fundraiser for Typhoon Haiyan relief in the Philippines. The deadly storm ravaged the country in September, but now, months later, the need for support is just as critical for regions that are rebuilding from scratch.
Breweries & Foodies takes place Sunday Feb. 23 from 4-9 pm at 7711 E. Academy Blvd., Denver, 80230.
It's a beer tasting event with great food (including Orange Crunch's awesome empanadas) and live music as well as a hip-hop dance performance by Hype 303, a favorite of the CDBF Cultural Unity and Main Performing Arts Stages.
Here's what you get for the admission cost ($45 in advance, $50 at the door):
*Custom event taster glass
*25 of Colorado's BEST and New Breweries (unlimited 2-3 oz taster pours as supply permits)
*6 AWESOME Food Trucks (tickets to sample from each food truck plus a surprise from one of the food trucks)
*Take pictures inside the cockpits of amazing aircraft from 6pm-8pm
*Giveaways throughout the night of amazing prizes
*Chance to bid in silent auction of donated items from artwork, UFC training, lift tickets to beer and gear from local breweries and some not available in CO
*Live music from renowned band HeyLady! and performance by Hype 303 Dance Crew
*Celebrity emcees from our local news
*Knowledge that the cost of your ticket goes directly to Philippine typhoon relief.
More details are on the event's Facebook Page.

Congratulations to someone who got her start at the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival! Denver-based Chef Leah Eveleigh had no prior experience except that she loves to cook, when she first began serving Filipino cuisine at CDBF. The booth, Tropical Grill Catering, turned into a catering business and a restaurant. She's now a private chef, still caters events and holds cooking demonstrations for groups.
Last year Chef Leah was recruited by the Food Network to compete on "Cutthroat Kitchen," a suspenseful weekly contest of wits hosted by Alton Brown, who also hosts the hit series "Iron Chef America." "Cutthroat Kitchen" is a reality-based culinary competition that pits four chefs against each other through cutthroat strategies, mind games and crazy sabotages dreamed up by host Alton Brown, himself a celebrity chef who’s familiar to viewers as the host of Iron Chef America. Cutthroat Kitchen is a cooking show with many evil twists and turns, in which competitors are given $25,000 to bid for sabotages to inflict on each other while they cook. A judge votes off a chef after each round until the winner is left standing.
The episode featuring Leah aired on January 19, and over 100 fans of the show and of Chef Leah cheered her on at LoDo’s Highlands Ranch as she was forced to suffer daunting obstacles: powering a blender by pedaling a bicycle, creating soup without being allowed to taste the flavor, and being forced to use sardines from a bucket of bait for a fish fry. She overcame each sabotage and won the judge’s approval. The crowd roared their approval when Chef Leah was announced the winner.
Leah's accomplishment celebrates the rich cultural diversity of Denver’s great culinary scene. Chef Leah is the first Filipina on the show to win, and the first contestant from Colorado.
CDBF is proud to be part of Chef Leah's award-winning career!