Last weekend we had the pleasure of attending Dee Fest 2024 which was held at Mile End Mill, the site of our Llangollen shop on the banks of the best river in North Wales (debated).
‘Freestyling’ Photo by Nick Wilson
The weekend started off on Friday night with the shop ready and prepared for a busy weekend we invited paddlers in for a film night put on by TNR Outdoors. Pizza, beer and a feature-length kayaking film, what could be better! Many continued into town and returned in the small hours whilst others got an early night to prep for the events the next day!
‘Intermediate Ish Mass Start’ Photo by Nick Wilson
Saturday morning started with a bang with the ‘Intermediate-ish’ mass start race just outside the shop. Incredible scenes as young gun Flynn won by a country mile, showing us that the Pyranha Ripper 1 still has its place as a speed machine!
Next up was the inflatable ducky racing! A selection of NRS duckies supplied by Dee River Kayaking was used in several heats, culminating in an intense battle to the finishing line in the final round. Lots of fun, and a fair amount of cheating/sabotage was had!
‘Ducky Racing’ Photo by Nick Wilson
Saturday early afternoon came the Tailee Jam led by the Scots from Pyranha and NRS. Tailees galore, a fair amount of swimming and wall splats were everywhere. There was even someone doing tailies from the back seat of a duo!
Later on that afternoon came the greatly anticipated Expert Mass Start race down at Town Falls. Dozens of paddlers geared up ready to race simultaneously down the intimidating town falls. After picking up an early lead, young gun and friend of the shop Ewan Murray looked like he was onto an easy win. However, his victory robbed from the palm of his hand as David Bain took the longer wide line and powered ahead in the Pyranha RipR Evo original. I think I should have been more encouraging when I heard Sam plotting to put bricks in the back of David’s boat.
‘Expert Mass Start’ Photo by Nick Wilson
After mopping up the carnage from the race, everyone prepared for the party in the town hall. A fantastic evening put on by the Dee Fest organisers and great music by Extreme Events.
Sunday morning was a slow one for many. Kicking off the morning with the Rodeo event in Middle Hole. A range of abilities and tricks were put on show with some people happy to survive surfing across the feature and others throwing down huge aerial loops!
‘Macarena Rodeoing’ Photo by Nick Wilson
Sunday afternoon was the infamous inflatable race and jam. Crocodiles, Rhinos, lilos, dinghies and tanks were just a few of the awesome inflatables on show. Lots of fun was had by all.
We wanted to say a massive thank you to all of the volunteers for making Dee Fest possible and special thanks to Lowri, Tanya and Shifty for putting the event together and making it all happen. A massive thank you to all those who came and visited the shop over the weekend! We are stoked for next year!
This blog was written by Alex, a multidisciplinary whitewater paddler, coach and team member who loves spending time on the water and having fun.
Photo by Nick Wilson
