The Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is a yearly event that attracts 5500 paddlers and over 70,000 spectators in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Since its inception in 1993, thousands of participants have gathered at Mooney's Bay Park on Riverside Drive in Ottawa to race. Admission to the festival is free to spectators.
In 1998 the "Pledge Challenge" was added as a charitable component. The Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation was founded in 2004 to help efforts with fundraising for local charities. To date the Challenge has raised over $2.43 million.
The 2012 edition of the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival will take place June 22–24, 2012. The Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation's fundraising goal was to raise $350,000 for local charities.
The event is held in Mooney's Bay, where the Rideau River and Rideau Canal split. Many of the Ottawa-based boats train at Mooney's Bay out of the Rideau Canoe Club.
Read more about Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival: Breast Cancer Survivor Teams, Opening Ceremony, Onsite Entertainment, Children's Area, Vendors, Artisans, Concessionaires, and Exhibitors, Closing Ceremony
Famous quotes containing the words dragon, boat and/or festival:
“The dragon wing of night o’erspreads the earth.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“But now, our boat climbs hesitates drops
climbs hesitates crawls back
climbs hesitates
O be swift
we have always known you wanted us.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“The surest guide to the correctness of the path that women take is joy in the struggle. Revolution is the festival of the oppressed.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)