Chris Hagan
Review Staff Writer
Dragon on the Lake has been synonymous with a sort of summer Homecoming for Lake Orion.
In its infancy, the three-day long event began as a small festival aimed at promoting the arts and has developed into one of the top festival attractions in the area.
As a way to keep it contemporary and new, the Dragon on the Lake committee in charge has introduced several new attractions.
New for this year has current Orion Art Center Director James Jenkins excited and it’s called ‘Party on the Point.?
Taking place on Friday, August 28, at Pelton’s Point behind the three-story Winfire Building will be a barrage of live entertainment, art fair exhibits, music and food. Performers from the Michigan Renaissance Festival will be in attendance as well as a strolling magician, hoverboard demos by Viscosity Sports and small plates with local restaurants.
Benefiting the OAC, tickets for Party on the Point are $50 and it’ll go from 7-9pm.
‘It’s amazing just how much this festival has grown over the years,? Jenkins said. ‘This started as a way to connect art with the community and that’s we’re trying to do this year again is to add more art.?
One attraction at the forefront is the Dragon LOve Lip Dub which is planned for Saturday, August 29 at Noon. A lip dub is a type of video that combines lip synching a song in some sort of mobile fashion, either walking or doing some activity, to create a music video captured in one take.
What makes a Lip Dub unique is its collaboration of many people lip synching different parts of the song all captured in one continuous video capture without editing.
The song that participants will be ‘lip dubbing? is one very unique to the area as the lyrics speak of elements of Lake Orion’s history. Written by former Orion Art Center Director Reggie Harrison, the lyrics begin with a factual history of how the lake was originally five small lakes that became one after the dam was created.
‘The song mixes a little bit of history, a fun hook and some serious dragon love. You don’t have to learn the whole song, just sing along to the verse playing as the camera goes by? said Reggie Harrison.
Adding to the history, the song is centered around the dragon folklore of a fire breathing beast living in the depths of Dollar Bay.
Harrison sings the song which features segments of electric guitar riffs reminiscent of late 1960’s and early 1970s rock. Those interested can just show up in downtown on Saturday at noon and the shoot is expected to take a couple of hours.
In addition to the Lip Dub and Party on the Point, DOTL will feature several other first time events. Friday night in Greens Park will be family movie night where there will be a screening of ‘How to Train Your Dragon.? The movie will begin at 8 p.m. and with tickets sales starting at $3 for adults and $2 for kids 2-12 with kids under 2 years old getting in for free.
The movie will be presented on a large inflatable screen with theater like projection quality. Saturday during the Dragon on the Lake will have new features to the Extreme Zone including birds of prey and live wrestling.
For those interested in participating in the lip dub they are encouraged to visit dragonlovelipdub.com. To get more information on Dragon on the Lake and the events scheduled people can visit dragononthelake.com