Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

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Racing at the 2018 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival 2018ODBFRace.jpg
Racing at the 2018 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

The Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is an annual festival of dragon boat races in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Begun in 1994, the festival attracts 5,500 paddlers, 200 teams and over 75,000 spectators from all around the world. It is one of the largest dragon boat festivals in North America. The event is held in Mooney's Bay, where the Rideau River and Rideau Canal split. Mooney's Bay is where many of the Ottawa-based teams train, using the Rideau Canoe Club facilities. [1] [2] [3] The festival was most recently held in 2019. The 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022 saw the return of the festival but the number of participants was less than pre pandemic years.

Contents

In 1998, the Charity Cup Challenge was added as a fundraising component for the Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation. Founded in 2004 as a way to raise funds for local charities. [4] The challenge has raised over CA$4 million in support of 41 charities. [5] The festival has also initiated a number of eco-friendly projects, making it both the first carbon-neutral festival in North America and the first Ecologo-certified festival in the world. [6]

Races

Races take place over the Saturday and Sunday with teams divided into three categories, Mixed, Women and Open. They may involve 16-20 paddlers, one drummer, one steersperson and up to six spares. Teams race a minimum of two 500m races on Saturday and the top 75 mixed, 32 women's and eight open teams will advance to Sunday where they will compete in three additional - 100m, 200m and 500m races.

Challenge cups

The festival also has 25 Challenge Cups divided into four categories. These are designed to increase competition between teams from different corporate and community groups.

Some notable races within these divisions include:

Festival events

Chinese Lion Dancers perform at the 2018 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival Chinese Lion Dancers .jpg
Chinese Lion Dancers perform at the 2018 Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

The Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is part of a larger Chinese cultural tradition that goes back 2,400 years. It began on the life-sustaining riverbanks in the valleys of southern China as a fertility rite performed to ensure bountiful crops. The first participants held their celebration on the fifth day of the lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The race was held to avert misfortune and encourage the rains needed for prosperity. The object of their worship was the dragon.

Cultural and heritage performers are featured at the festival and are included prominently during the opening and closing festivities. [7] Select performances are designed to honour the traditions and cultural roots of dragon boating as well as the cultural diversity that makes up the National Capital Region.

Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony is presented on the Friday of each Festival weekend with cultural tourist attractions like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pipe and Drum band. The Parade of Champions is similar in concept to the Olympics' Parade of Nations. Numerous dignitaries attend including the Mayor of Ottawa. Other special guests include CTV Ottawa media personalities and other prominent members of the Ottawa community. Past performers include The Success Lion Dance Troupe, which celebrates a 3000-year-old tradition that symbolizes prosperity, luck and happiness, and The Oto-Wa Taiko Japanese drummers.

Eye Dotting

An essential dragon boat tradition, the eye dotting ceremony consists of painting the eyes onto a dragon head to awaken it from sleep and symbolizes the start of the festival.

Entertainment

Concert spectators at the 2016 festival Spectators at the 2016 festival.jpg
Concert spectators at the 2016 festival

Each year, the festival provides a series of free concerts with a focus on showcasing talent local to the Ottawa region and Canada. Notable acts have included Sam Roberts, Broken Social Scene, Matt Mays and The Sheepdogs. The festival also has strolling performers, food vendors, artisans, exhibitors and cultural performances.

Related Research Articles

A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of traditional paddled long boats found throughout Asia, Africa, the Pacific islands, and Puerto Rico. The sport of dragon boat racing has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers, which dates back 2000 years throughout southern China, and even further to the original games of Olympia in ancient Greece. Both dragon boat racing and the ancient Olympiad included aspects of religious observances and community celebrations, along with competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragon Boat Festival</span> Chinese holiday

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or June in the Gregorian calendar. The holiday commemorates the ancient poet Qu Yuan, and is celebrated by holding dragon boat races and eating sticky rice dumplings called zongzi. Dragon Boat Festival integrates folk practice, including the worship of gods and ancestors, praying for good luck and to ward off evil spirits, celebrating, entertainment, and eating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winterlude</span> Annual winter festival held in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec

Winterlude is an annual winter festival held in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec.

Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.

The Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival (TIDBRF), is an annual dragon boat race and cultural event, first held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1989. It will be its 37th year in a row in 2024. It developed from the Toronto Chinese Business Association held in Toronto, Ontario. An associated festival highlights Asian and other cultures in Toronto. It has been acknowledged as a prominent cultural occasion in Toronto, fostering heritage and arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hog's Back Falls</span> Artificial waterfalls in Ottawa, Canada

The Hog's Back Falls, officially known as the Prince of Wales Falls, but rarely referred to by this name, are a series of artificial waterfalls on the Rideau River in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The falls are located just north of Mooney's Bay and the point where the Rideau Canal splits from the Rideau River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rideau Canoe Club</span> Canoe club in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

The Rideau Canoe Club (RCC) is a canoe club located on the Rideau River in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The club is located at Mooney's Bay, where the Rideau Canal splits away from the river prior to joining up with the Ottawa River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprint canoe</span>

A sprint canoe is a canoe used in International Canoe Federation canoe sprint. It is an open boat propelled by one, two or four paddlers from a kneeling position, using single-bladed paddles. The difficulty of balance can depend on how wide or narrow the canoe is, although regularly the less contact a canoe has with the water the faster it goes. This makes the narrower boats much faster and popular when it comes to racing.

The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival or Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival takes place every June on the waters and shoreside of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is North America's largest and most competitive dragon boat festival with over 200 crews competing from around the world, with roots stemming from Expo 86. The Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival is run by the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Dragon Boat Federation</span>

The International Dragon Boat Federation is the international governing body for the sport of dragon boat racing. IDBF was founded in Hong Kong on June 24, 1991 by Australia, China, Taiwan, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States. IDBF currently has 75 member countries or territories and is supported by five continental federations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mooney's Bay Park</span>

Mooney's Bay Park is a public park in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on the Rideau River. Its main entrance is on Riverside Drive, opposite Ridgewood Avenue, but can also be accessed from Hog's Back Road.

The British Dragon Boat Racing Association (BDA) is the UK governing body for dragon boat racing as a sport and recreation, recognised by the UK Sports Council and a member of the Sport Alliance, Water Recreation Division.

The Raging Dragons are a dragon boat club based in London, UK. The club trains on the Royal Albert Dock at the London Regatta Centre.

The All Sports Team Hannover is a dragon boat team of the Hannoverschen Kanuclub v. 1921 e.V. from Germany.

Rubicon Riders Dragon Boat Racing Team (MDBRC) is based in Montreal on the Olympic Basin located in Parc Jean-Drapeau. The RR was founded in 2011 as a competitive U23 team, the first its kind in Quebec. The boat is composed with a mixture of paddlers from Raging Beast (16), Autoboat Beast(3), Kamikaze(1), Boat Rockers (2) and Montreal Mix(2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britannia Yacht Club</span> Private social, yacht and tennis club in Britannia, Ontario, Canada

The Britannia Yacht Club (BYC) is a private social club, yacht club, and tennis club based in Britannia, a neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1887 by a group of cottagers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast cancer survivors' dragon boating</span> Water sport for cancer survivors

Breast cancer survivors' dragon boating is an international movement inspired by the research of Canadian sports medicine specialist Don McKenzie. Survivors of breast cancer come together to paddle dragon boats to the benefit of their physical health and social wellbeing. It is supported internationally by the International Breast Cancer Paddlers' Commission (IBCPC), an Associate Member of the International Dragon Boat Federation.

The Canadian National Dragonboat Championships is an annual three day competition organized by Dragonboat Canada and held in Ontario, Canada. Dragonboat teams from all over Canada, including Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Halifax, attend this event. There are event categories for University crews (U24), Premiere and Seniors (40+). Races distances include 200m, 500m and 2000m.

The United States Dragon Boat Federation (USDBF) is the official national governing body for the sport of dragon boat racing in the United States and has been a Full Member of the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) since 1991. The United States was a Charter Member of the founding of the IDBF in 1990, via the American Dragon Boat Association of Iowa. The USDBF is also a member of the Pan-American Dragon Boat Federation (PADBF). It is a volunteer organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley Racing Canoe Center</span> Dragon boat racing organization in California, U.S.

Berkeley Racing Canoe Center (BRCC) is the umbrella organization for several dragon boat teams in Berkeley, California. BRCC is located in the Berkeley Marina at Dock M, and teams primarily practice within the protection of the 65-acre yacht harbor. Three main teams are currently affiliated with BRCC: DragonMax, Cal Dragon, and East Bay Rough Riders. BRCC teams compete at local, national, and international dragon boat races, including the International Dragon Boat Federation Club Crew World Championships in Ravenna, Italy (2014), Adelaide, Australia (2016), and Szeged, Hungary (2018). BRCC teams also conduct many short-duration dragon boat events for local community groups. BRCC is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

References

  1. ↑ "Dragon boats tear through the water at Mooney's Bay". Ottawa Citizen. June 26, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  2. ↑ Abma, Sandra (June 22, 2018). "All that jazz and more for the weekend". CBC News.
  3. ↑ Smith, Patrick (June 28, 2015). "Dragon boat festival fills Mooney's Bay with team spirit | Ottawa Citizen". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Home". Ottawa Dragon Boat Foundation.
  5. ↑ ODBF (December 16, 2016), OBDF HAS RAISED OVER $4 MILLION IN SUPPORT OF 41 CHARITIES, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved April 5, 2018
  6. ↑ "First Festival Achieves EcoLogo Certification". Green Living Online. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  7. ↑ Murphy, Sarah (March 19, 2018). "Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival 2018 Gets Sam Roberts Band, Broken Social Scene, Wintersleep, Matt Mays". exclaim.ca.
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