 On your mark, get set paddle 12 years later, the Dragon Boat Festival in Bemidji has become a custom in the area. Hedy Clotter shows us how teams are vying for the top prize. Slow and steady doesn't always win the race. For the 12th annual Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival, there's a need for speed. It's worked out perfect to bring the event to Bemidji. We just knew that it was something that our community would love to have. Spectators arrived at the Lake Bemidji Waterfront to watch teams practice before the race tomorrow. It's a fun time to get together with friends and family, co-workers, people, maybe strangers that you've never met before and they're on your team and you can meet people from all over the world. This team comprised of midco employees and their spouses is back for a seventh year. They only got in one practice before the race but are confident. The last three years we've really had the same people every year so then the competition part comes in. It's a little funner. You get a little better each year. You try harder and a little more detailed. So I think a lot of it is experience and everybody enjoys the festival so it's easy to get them to come back. Each boat has room for 20 paddlers, one steersman and a drummer. Drummers are instrumental in keeping the pace of the race. They all row to my drum. They keep, we have to keep the pace. We need to all be in sync when we're rowing so they row to that beat. The Dragon Boat Festival is more than just a boat competition. The event is a fundraiser for a whole bunch of different organizations as well. So we have our Wednesday taco feed, we have a Thursday cornhole tournament, Friday night tonight we have the Don Langer Sprint Cup races. There are prizes for just about everything including best team name. We are the midco muskies. Scurvy stitchers. And best team village where all the teams can hang out and they decorate a tent to show their team spirit. This is the best weekend in Bemidji the entire year and the first city crew is going to take on the Civic Cup. We're on this town. For Kendra Martinez of Scurvy Stitchers she enjoys the process. The team wants to do well on the lake but best team village is something they take a lot of pride in. After all they've won the award before. We sell for a living. We play with fabric every day. We took some clean white fabric and we made it beautifully looking dirty from the sea. New this year is a challenge cup. It'll feature a battle of the badges race where the local fire police and ambulance service will compete. In Bemidji, Haiti quarter Lakeland News. The race starts Saturday at 9.30 a.m. and there will also be a 5k race and race day breakfast. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.