It was not so much a fish out of water that shoppers at a city shopping centre were confronted with on Saturday - but a dragon.

It was not so much a fish out of water that shoppers at a city shopping centre were confronted with on Saturday - but a dragon.

But fortunately this was no fire-breathing beast, rather a full size and ornately decorated Chinese dragon boat which was displayed in The Mall, Norwich, in St John's Place, outside Argos and New Look.

The boat was there to celebrate Chinese new year and the launch of the fifth East Anglian Dragon Boat Festival in aid of East Anglia's Children's Hospices.

The festival, takes place at Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, on Sunday, May 9, and staff from organisers Gable Events were there throughout the day on Saturday to tell people more about the event and how to take part.

Carol Lester, director of Gable Events said: 'The festival is a great chance for companies and organisations to try something completely different, promote themselves to a large local audience, network with local companies and potential clients and raise money for EACH. We expect the festival to be as popular as ever this time around so we recommend teams get their entries in early to guarantee a place'.

To find out more about how to enter call 01780 470 718 or log onto www.dragonboatfestivals.co.uk/eastanglia