PENSACOLA, Fla. ( WKRG ) — Volunteers have been setting up for the annual Pensacola Dragon Boat Festival on Bayou Texar since early Friday morning, setting up signs and banners for Saturday’s annual Dragon Boat Festival that will begin as early as 8 a.m.
Twenty-two teams will compete in this year’s festival with 20 paddlers in each dragon boat.
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A look inside one of the dragon boats competing in Saturday’s race. (News 5 photo)
With Saturday marking its tenth year, the Dragon Boat Festival can expect to host as many as 5,000 people, who could travel from farther distances than the Pensacola area.
Northeast Pensacola Sertoma volunteer Erik Hansen said certain dedicated teams use the Pensacola Dragon Festival as another chance to travel and compete together.
“We have a team from The Villages that comes in, a team from South Carolina,” Hansen said. “We have teams from Mobile, Alabama, just down the road.”