THE TIM HORTONS OTTAWA DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2026 DATES!

Thursday, September 25, 2025

The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival has announced that the 2026 edition will take place June 19-21 on the Rideau River in the beautiful setting of Mooney’s Bay Park. 

 

The 2026 edition is a Dragon Boat Canada Race Series Event and promises to be one of the most exciting summer events in Ottawa and a premier dragon boat festival on the North American dragon boat calendar. 

 

Registration is now open! Teams include up to 30 members competing in community, corporate and competitive divisions over two days of racing.

 

Participants from all backgrounds and skill levels, from beginners to world champions, will have the opportunity to compete for greatness in a diverse range of divisions including the Sue Holloway Cup, named after Olympic medalist and Canadian Sports Hall of Famer for competitive teams who are registered with Dragon Boat Canada. Community teams will also hit the water to compete in the Breast Cancer Paddlers Cup, teams whose members are breast cancer survivors, Pride Challenge Cup, the first 2SLGBTQ+ dragon boat division in Canada, introduced in 2016 and two of the festival’s newest divisions, the Para Challenge Cup, teams whose members are para-athletes and the All Cancer Paddlers Challenge Cup, consisting of athletes of all genders and ages who are survivors of any type of cancer. Corporate teams will come together for a team building weekend (and friendly competition against other teams in their industry!) in various divisions including the Building & Development Challenge Cup, High Tech Challenge Cup, and Professional Services Challenge Cup. These divisions and many more are some of the highlights of the weekend's events.