I am…
- Name: Jason MacKenzie
- Age: 35
- Nationality: Canadian
- Job: Technical Director, UAE Dragon Boat Association (Dragon Boats Alive)
Tell us more about your involvement with Dragon Boats Alive.
I run high performance dragon boat programmes throughout the UAE, as well as organise events and competitions here and abroad.
What exactly is dragon boating?
It is a traditional Chinese form of paddle boat racing. It has been around for more than 2500 years but has become very popular all over the world in the last four decades. More than 50 million people compete in dragon boat races over six continents every year.
You're hosting the Dragon Boat Festival at Festival City today and tomorrow. How popular is an event of this kind in the UAE?
Dragon boating has been in the UAE since 2006, and this year, we have around 5,000 people participating. Most of them will be just looking for a bit of fun, but we also have many hard core paddlers as well. We had a team finish seventh at last year's World Club Crew Championship in Malaysia where 400 crews attended.
What other activities can we expect over these two days?
There will be activities like face painting, a bouncy castle, volleyball, food and beverages, musical entertainment and a celebration dinner party at the Four Seasons Golf Club.
With people spending less on entertainment due to the credit crisis, how well do you think the festival will do?
The festival will be a big success but we are not recession-proof. There are significant costs involved in hosting a dragon boat festival like any other large event. We do not charge people to come down, watch the event and enjoy the atmosphere. Therefore we are extremely dependent upon sponsorship. It has been much more difficult to raise sponsorship in this economic environment than previously, but we have been very fortunate to have Total, InterContinental, Four Seasons Golf Club and Festival City step forward as they always do. Developing long term, reliable partners has been the key to our significant growth.
I'm watching…
- Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark
- The Last Samurai
- The Bourne Identity
- Good Will Hunting
- The Wedding Crashers
I'm reading…
- National Geographic magazine
I have been reading National Geographic magazine since I was young. It has always inspired me to explore the world, and visit all sorts of places. Being here in Dubai is my latest stop.