 Excitement is building for another summer staple in the Bemidji area. The Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival launched its 13th season at the Paul Bunyan Park waterfront. Volunteers and committee members for the festival spent the day setting up for this week's big event. The dragon boats were delivered from Toronto, Canada this morning and a giant white tent was erected for the Dragonsten. With a core group of sponsors and volunteers, after 13 years, setup for the big event is always a large undertaking. Well, I don't know if it's ever routine, but it gets easier and you know the biggest thing about it is you get more volunteers. Every year people say, how can I get involved? We get corporate sponsorships and things about people talking about how they get more involved, borrowing equipment, doing all the things. There's a lot of things that go on in the background to get things together. Dragons Boat practices kick off tomorrow with the Dragonsten opening on Wednesday with the Sanford Health Taco Feed. Stories begin Friday night for the Sprint Cup and continue from 9 in the morning until 5 p.m. on Saturday. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.