A
boat race with a difference: Oxford's first Bangladeshi canoe
competition
UPDATED
6 August 08: Please see our latest press release here!
1
July 2008
The
Thames is braced for an explosion of colour as Oxford's first
annual Bangladeshi canoe competition is planned for Sunday
24 August from 12.00 pm to 6.00 pm.
Last
year's very successful Go
with the Flow Festival ran from April to October
2007 with events at Farmoor Reservoir, and in Faringdon, Oxford,
Banbury and Henley. The goal was to encourage greater enjoyment
of the rivers and waterways of Oxfordshire: The River Thames
came to life with boat races, kayaking, Venetian gondolas,
punting, Tai Chi by the water, live music, a restored Victorian
steam launch and lifeboats from the River Clyde. In addition,
for the first time in Oxford there were Bangladeshi rowers
dressed in their full traditional costumes.
Now the legacy of Go with the Flow lives on, as this
year dozens of teams of Bangladeshi canoeists from around
the country will be heading to Oxford's rivers this summer
for a new type of boat race. Teams from several cities, including
Cheltenham, Birmingham and Milton Keynes will take part in
the nowka-bais - traditional Bangladeshi canoe racing
- on the River Thames at Donnington Bridge.
This event is produced by the new Oxford Bangladeshi Boat
Club with support from Thames
Water, Oxford City
Council, Oxfordshire
Sports Partnership and Oxford Inspires,
Oxfordshire
Bangladeshi Association, Bangladeshi Association Oxford,
The
Waterways Trust, Aziz
Restaurants, Pride of
Asia Catering, Kansaras
Exclusive Luxury Chocolates, Oxford
Sea Cadets, The
Riverside Centre, City
Barge, Falcon Rowing
and Canoeing Club, the British
Canoe Union and the Bangla
Mirror.
Restaurateur Aziz-Ur Rahman (of Aziz
Restaurants) and Peter Travis, joint chair of the Oxford
Bangladeshi Boat Club, have helped to organise the first Annual
National Nowka-Bais Day, which will be held
on Sunday, August 24.
Mr Rahman said: "I wanted to give something back to Oxford
and the whole of the UK and I thought this would be a great
idea, bringing the most traditional sport of Bangladesh to
the River Thames."
Mr. Travis said: "This is the first occasion of the Asian
Community seeing the river as a place of recreation and sport."
A new press
release with further details is pending, so please check back
soon.
In the meantime,
read Chris Kearney's
full article in the Oxford Times (13 June 2008).
Images from Go With The Flow 2007:
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