Opening Ceremony kicked off CDBF 2011 with team parade, eye-dotting ceremony and dragon dance

One of the highlights of the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival every year is the Opening Ceremony, which kicks off the festival with this most traditional of rituals.

We started off the 2011 festivities on Saturday morning with the always-popular Team Parade, which is our version of the Olympics opening ceremonies where the teams march into the stadium—only, our teams may be wearing wacky hats or costumes, and be accompanied by folks in ethnic dress to represent their communities.

The Opening Ceremony itself is a cultural spectacle, featuring Chinese Buddhist monks chanting and blessing the festival and all the competitors, then performing a beautiful, spiritual, traditional Eye Dotting Ceremony with invited dignitaries to awaken the spirit of the dragons within the race boats.

That ritual is followed by a stirring Dragon Dance featuring the 75-feet-long dragon brought to life by Boulder-based Shaolin Hung Mei King Fu Academy.

Elaine Kazutomi For 2011, we were honored to have the talent of a pair of Asian Americans who started off the festival with their vocal talents on the “Star Spangled Banner.”

Elaine Kazutomi is a senior at Columbia Southern University. She is studying for her B.S. in Psychology, and is currently a Senior Pharmacy Tech at Walgreens. She enjoys singing, dancing, modeling and acting and competes in numerous competitions each year. She’s held numerous titles including Miss Multi-Cultural Ambassador 2008, Ms. Colorado Dream Girls 2009, and is currently Ms. Supreme Starlet 2010. She performs with her twin sister and has performed at numerous events including the Japanese American National Museum Conference.

Elaine’s twin sister Emily Kazutomi is a senior at Columbia Southern University. She is studying for her B.S. in Psychology, and is currently a Senior Pharmacy Tech at Walgreens. She enjoys singing, horseback riding, dancing, modeling and acting and competes in numerous competitions each year. She’s held numerous titles including Miss Colorado Teen American Coed 2006, Miss All-American Ambassador 2008, and is currently Ms. Dream Girls USA 2010. She performs with her twin sister and has performed at numerous events including the Japanese American National Museum Conference.

The Kazutomi sisters volunteered at CDBF in the past; in 2011 they were featured on the Main Performing Arts Stage as part of the Opening Ceremony.

The crowds simply love the sights and sounds of this inspirational portion of the festival. Please join us for this colorful start to the 11th annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival!