Springfield Dragon Boat Races 2021

121 West Street,Springfield MA 01104

26 June, 2021

Description

Last year we missed the river, paddling, and WE MISSED YOU! We hope you'll join us in an early test of your racing skills! Greetings Dragon Boat Teams and Fans! This will be a day of fun on the Connecticut River featuring a 200 meter racecourse, camaraderie, and safety. We are hoping give everyone a reason to get back in your boats and to jump start the 2021 racing season with this early event. Of course things will be a little different this year. The Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club (PVRC) has received approval by the City of Springfield to hold the 2021 DragonBoat Festival on June 26, 2021. We are following CDC and DPH guidelines to run a safe event. 22 Dragons will partner with us again this year to oversee the on-water components of the event. There will be an active, live attendance count done constantly to ensure no more than 150 people are on site at any time to comply with the current Massachusetts rules for outside events. There will be no spectators at the 2021 Festival. Only team members will attend. A staff member will monitor the gates at all times. The Festival will be separated into multiple 2-hour sessions. Each session will have 4 to 6 teams of up to 22 people competing. This will ensure that we never have more than 150 people on site at one time. For teams who are concerned about racing with 20 paddlers in a boat, we are offering an alternative race division with 10 paddlers in a 20 person boat. The key to our Strategy of Safety is to have each team treated as a “Pod”. Pods will not contact, overlap, or interact with each other. Therefore, in the event of an asymptomatic infectious individual attending the event, only his/her Pod shall be affected. All Festival staff and 22 Dragons staff will follow CDC Guidelines and use masks, social distancing, and frequent hand washing. Parking will be monitored. No tailgating or loitering will be allowed in the parking area. As paddlers arrive, they will be screened for COVID symptoms using a COVID questionnaire,and have their temperature taken at the entrance gate. A designated PVRC staff person will be responsible for responding to all COVID-19 related situations. There will be a separate entrance and an exit gate so that there will be no mixing of “Pods.” There will be no food vendors. Bottled water will be available throughout the day. Masks will be required at all times. There will be a designated Festival staff person monitoring the use of masks and enforcing physical distancing. Masks will be available for those without one and for those that need to change their masks due to dampness or soiling. A waiver form will be signed by each participant making clear that entrance will only be allowed for people meeting specified health criteria (this waiver can be signed electronically prior to the Festival.) Each team will be their own “Pod” and be assigned a space for a team tent. Teams will bring their own tents. Tent sites will be spaced at least 12 feet apart. Each site will have its own Port-a-potty. Hand sanitizing stations with hand sanitizer will be available throughout the Festival area, along with hand washing stations which are foot pump operated. Trash receptacles will be cardboard banker box type with an open top not requiring contact before depositing items. Teams will be spaced out at marshalling to prevent “Pods” from overlapping to, from, and on the dock. There will be markers to keep teams more than 12 feet apart along with signage and markers to separate the other teams lining up to race. Waterfront staff will monitor this process to conform to CDC/DPH guidelines. Each Team captain will have a written seating plan upon entering the Marshalling area. Teams will use their own paddles and life jackets. 22 Dragons will provide them for those without their own. There will be no sharing of equipment. Ample time has been scheduled for cleaning and disinfecting of each boat between races. Between each session, all public surfaces and port-a-potties will be sanitized following the CDC cleaning and disinfecting guidelines and utilizing an electrostatic sprayer for this task, on loan from the City. All cleaning products will be CDC recommended. To ensure participants depart in a quick orderly fashion after their race session is complete the race results will be available on-line the afternoon of the Festival.