Businesses set to battle it out at Brindleyplaces’s Dragonboat Festival

BROADCASTER and Cure Leukaemia patron Adrian Chiles will be at Brindleyplace in Birmingham tomorrow to cheer on local businesses as they take part in the estate’s annual Dragonboat Festival.

Deutsche Bank, KPMG, Barclays, Network Rail and Matalan are amongst the firms taking part in the annual event.

Chiles, who grew up in Hagley, will hold a meet and greet with participants and event attendees, to help mark the 16th anniversary of the Dragonboat Festival and the 20th anniversary of Brindleyplace.

Teams this year include ‘Usain Boat’, ‘Millennium Marauders’, ‘Hong Kong Foodie’ and ‘Hogwart’s Express’, all of whom will be dressed in elaborate costumes and will battle it out against each other along the Birmingham and Worcester canal in traditional 40ft long Chinese dragonboats (from Pitcher and Piano to the Barclaycard Arena).

One of Birmingham’s most established annual corporate fundraising events, the Dragonboat Festival is being sponsored by Deutsche Bank for the fifth year running and, this year, Brindleyplace is hoping to raise £100,000 for Birmingham-based blood cancer charity, Cure Leukaemia.

Over the past 16 years, the event has raised more than £350,000 for charities in Birmingham.

Starting at 10am, there will also be a host of family-friendly activities taking place in Central Square and Oozells Square, including crazy golf, a bouncy castle and themed entertainment comprising Chinese dragon dancers and a fire-breathing performer.

There will also be a craft and food market held in association with Sketts.

Cure Leukaemia will also be offering a chance for visitors to win a Maserati for a weekend, courtesy of Sytner and its Graypaul Maserati Birmingham dealership.

Alison McKenna, Senior Marketing Executive at Brindleyplace, said: “We’ve had a fantastic response, with so many businesses in Birmingham all wanting to take part in this year’s Dragonboat Festival.”