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:
“Sir Eglamour, that worthy knight,
He took his sword and went to fight;
And as he rode both hill and dale,
Armed upon his shirt of mail,
A dragon came out of his den,
Had slain, God knows how many men!”
—Samuel Rowlands (1570?–1630?)
“Let the space under the first storey be dark, let the water
lap the stone posts, and vivid green slime glimmer
upon them; let a boat be kept there.”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the festival of unleavened bread, at the festival of weeks, and at the festival of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God that he has given you.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Deuteronomy 16:16,17.