Dear Friends,

There is not long now to wait before our meet up, we are very excited to welcome you all  to our splendid Florence.

 First of all we would like to apologise for our lack of information regarding the transfers and the schedule in the time that we had planned.  As mentioned on our website there are many road works in progress, as you will be able to see for yourselves, the work on the new tramway which has changed the viability and direction of the roads and as a consequence delayed all the programs we had made.  As you can well  imagine all of this has created enormous problems. Unfortunately this does not depend on us, but we would like to reassure you that we are doing everything possible to clarify this situation with the local government and the transfer routes will definitely be advised before your arrival.  Would you please  kindly check our  website regularly for this update.

As is normal for all sporting and non sporting events, the very first thing to do  for all participants  is to register themselves and be issued with their ID CARD.  At the  Registration you will also get your race packs.

• In order to be able to participate in any of the activities offered by the Festival it will  be necessary to show your ID CARDS, which you must have with you at all times.
• There will be no access to any of the activities of the Festival for those people who have not registered as a paticipant of the Festival.

Registration will be held on the ground floor of Palazzo Vecchio  in the Sala d’Arme  from Tuesday July the 3rd to Thursday July the 5th from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

On Friday the 6th the Registration desk will be open from 10.30 a.m. until 3.00 p.m

As already said in order to contribute to a more efficient and  speedy registration, team leaders  alone are kindly requested to register all their team participants by delivering the following sets of 3 documents:

• Passport or copy thereof (READABLE) of all participants
• original waivers or copy thereof (READABLE) of all participants
• original health certificates or copy thereof (READABLE) of paddling participants (paddling BCS and paddling supporters)

The above 3 groups of documents must be delivered in order of the personal ID code of each participant.

Your co-operation with this process will be truly appreciated.

We would like to remind you that anyone who does not have a valid medical certificate (not legible, or properly filled out and signed) will not be able to race.  The Organising Committee has decided to give participants with invalid health certificate the opportunity of registering as supporters so that they do not loose their paid up registration fee but above all to give them the chance of participating in the Festival.

In the SALA D’ARME  you will find :

 – REGISTRATION DESK  for registering everyone, where the team leader will hand over all the documents, accompanied by a maximum of 2 people inside the sala d’arme.   Outside  the building the others can be waiting to pick up their race packs.  We ask your co-operation in this so that we avoid confusion inside the registration room.

– PENDING REGISTRATION DESK,  in the case of outstanding funds or reimbursements you will be directed to this desk, in the case of money due you will be able to pay in cash or with a bankers card.

ONLY AFTER PAYING ALL OUTSTANDING AMOUNTS  WILL YOU BE ABLE TO  REGISTER THE ENTIRE TEAM.

– MERCHANDISING DESK, Exposition only.  As outlined on our website you can pick up the products purchased online at the race venue  on the 7th and 8th of July at  MERCHANDISING booth, of course you can also buy there the products.

–  PONTE VECCHIO EXPERIENCE – this is exclusively for the teams which have the right to  this experience.  Here you can complete your booking by paying the amount established.

– ACCOMMODATION DESK  for those people who have booked their accomodation through ENIC.

– TRANSFER DESK  where you will have access to the transfer system. Everyone who has not  booked through ENIC will have to go to the transfer meeting point.

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 COMPOSITE TEAMS: you will find the crews lists and their training sessions times scheduled on July the 6th inside each Team account on the left column.

FESTIVAL VENUES

 As you will know the laws regarding public security have intensified due to the various events over the past years making security measures much stricter, which force us to comply with regulations for all the  occupied areas.  In order to carry out every phase of the manifestation in the best possible way, we really need your co-operation and patience.  All of the areas occupied  by the participants  must be cordoned off, the entrance to the said area  will be  controlled by qualified security personnel and each participant will gain access by showing their ID Card.

TEAM LEADER & STEERS MEETING at 3.30 pm on July the 6th at the Auditorium al Duomo, Via de’ Cerretani, 54/R

This meeting will serve to explain in detail the way in which the races will take place, the steers and team leaders are warmly encouraged to attend this meeting to ensure the smooth  execution of the  races.  Everyone must show their ID card in order to gain entrance.  The Race Heat  Schedule  will be available at the end of this meeting.

PINK PARADE: meeting time 5 pm at Piazza Pitti on July the 6th

We kindly ask you to be at the meeting point in Piazza Pitti well in time so that you gain  entry in the  area  set aside for us by showing your ID CARD , take your position in a swift  and orderly manner behind your Nation’s  flag.  The teams will be lined up by nationality inside the  area and in alphabetical order by team.  Each team should bring the banner with its name which will be given to the team at Palazzo Vecchio at  the Registration.

At 5.30 pm the speaker will begin to call the Nations and the Pink Parade will begin the procession in the heart of Florence passing over the Ponte Vecchio and the Arno to reach Piazza Signoria.  You will be assisted in this parade by your Ambasssadors and volunteers.

OPENING CEREMONY – Piazza Signoria on July the 6th

The teams will be able to gain access to the destined area by showing their ID card to the security personnel.  There will be only one entrance so we kindly ask you to have your ID Card around your neck, to facilitate identification.  Unfortunately for security reasons it is not possible to bring seating for everyone therefore we have reserved a small space for  people  who need  to sit or that  have  disabilities.  We invite those people who have  problems walking or particular needs not to participate in the Pink Parade  but to come directly to Piazza Signoria where they will find seating.

CLOSING CEREMONY – in the Athletes Village on July the 8th

Only those people who are registered and are inside the  village are able to attend  this  ceremony .

After the ceremony there will be an aperitif party where we will eat and drink together before saying our goodbyes.

RACE VENUE

There are no reserved parking lots in the area of the athlete’s village  and anyone coming by  car to the race venue will not be able to park in the area near to the village but should park on the other side of the river in an area called Isolotto.

The tents reserved for the teams do not have locked cupboards, there will  be a table and some chairs for each gazebo.  The teams can decorate the gazebo as is normal  for  the IBCPC Festval.

RACE RULES:

During the event there will be two types of races: BCS team races, and supporter races.

The BCS team races will be in 4 rounds and be carried out as follows:

• Each team will participate in four rounds of races: two on Saturday (round #1 and round #2) and two on Sunday (round #3 and round #4)
• The team placements for round #1 will be assigned arbitrarily
• No two boats from the same club will be assigned to the same heat in round #1.
• Boats in round #2 will grouped according to their finish times in round #1
• Boats in round #3 will be grouped according to their fastest finish times from round #1 and round #2,
• Boats in round #4 will be grouped according to their fastest finish times from rounds #1,2 and 3.
• Those teams that did not have a time posted from a previous round(s) due to non-completion of the round will be assigned subsequent heats/rounds using a time that is slower than the slowest time registered by all the other teams.
• After round #1, subsequent rounds will begin with the teams posting the slowest times and finish with those with the fastest times

The supporter races will be in one round according to the following rules:

• Each team will participate in one race
• The heats will be arbitrarily assigned
• Teams from the same club will be put in different heats, if the numbers allow

******IMPORTANT INFORMATION*****

Access to the village is possible from th 4th of July and only to those people in possession of their ID card.  Duplicates of the ID Card will not be released so please keep yours safe.

• All communications will be made over the loud speakers and only in English. Please pay attention to these announcements.
• For all help needed there will be an info point in the center of the village.
• During the practise sessions and the races it is obligatory to wear a life jacket. In the area where the boats are,  there will be life jackets and paddles for those  people who need them.  All the items taken on loan must be replaced immediately after use,  to the same place they were taken from.
• Each landing stage has two ramps, one for getting into the boats and the other for the descent. For the embarkation and disembarkation on the landing stage the crews must embark one at a time, therefore the embarking crew can only go onto the landing stage once the exiting crew has completely left the platform.  In any case access to the landing stage is regulated by appointed personnel.

Specific information for the races

• The races will all be 500 meters
• The races will be held in a sequence of one every 8 minutes.
• The call to boat marshalling will be made by the number of the race. Each team will be able to see this  on the race program which will be given out at the info point.
• The access to boat marshalling in the embarking area is reserved exclusively to the team called on the loud speakers.
• All the participants of the race called must go to the boat marshalling with their ID cards, these will be taken into custody by the personnel who are on duty at the embarkation.
• Once the control has been effected and following the indications given by the personnel on duty the participants must go to the landing stage corresponding to the lane of the assigned race.
• After embarking, each crew must go to the waiting area to the ascending lane which will take them up to the starting point and wait there for the signal to  begin the ascent to the race zone. During the ascent it is forbidden to go into the race area, stop, accelerate or  try out
• When the starting judge calls the crew for the beginning of the race they must go to the lane which has been assigned to them, by the side of the landing stage. The number of the lane is on that landing stage.
• Once the race is over each crew must go to the landing stage from which it has departed, specifically the one with the race lane number which has been assigned to it. The landing stage must be approached in the same direction as the race.

Please click on the following link:
https://ailonews.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/dragon-boat-festival-resource-guide2.pdf

To find lots of useful information –  this booklet has been prepared for you by the American International League of Florence Onlus (AILO) to help you during your stay in Florence.  AILO is responsible for your team of Ambassadors.

We thank you in advance for following all the indications given, your co-operation is essential to the successful outcome of our Festival and that everything goes according to plan.

Thank you

The Florence Organizing Commiitte

SEE YOU IN FLORENCE 2018!