TIM HORTONS OTTAWA DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL IS BACK ON THE WATER THIS SUMMER

Thursday, February 17, 2022

DRAGONS RETURN TO BATTLE IN THE BAY!

The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival returns June 23-26, 2022.  Registration for the event opens Tuesday, March 1 at 12:00 PM ET.

The 29^th edition of the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is a Dragon Boat Canada Race Series Event and is held on the Rideau River in Ottawa’s beautiful Mooney’s Bay Park. This will mark a welcome return for the popular regatta to in-person competition.

“We’re so excited to welcome participants back to Ottawa in 2022! Pre-registration for teams who had registered and paid in 2020 will begin on February 22. General registration will open on Tuesday, March 1. We are so happy to be able to host live, in-person, races once again. We can’t wait to see you back on the water!” said Shelley Freake-Smyth, Director of Teams. 

Organizers are also pleased to announce that Tim Hortons will continue to be the event’s title sponsor. “The relationship between Tim Hortons and the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival spans 16 years and has hosted participants from throughout North America and around the globe.” said CEO John Brooman “This year’s return to in-person festivities is an integral part of a healthy community and will be made even more special having our friends and partners from Tim Hortons by our sides. We look forward to welcoming everyone back this summer.” 

Participants will have the opportunity to join paddlers from all skill levels, from rookies to world champions, as they compete for greatness in a variety of divisions including the Sue Holloway Cup, Breast Cancer Paddlers Cup, Pride Challenge Cup as well as the introduction of the new Paradragons and All Cancer Paddlers (ACP) Challenge Cups.

Sport crews from throughout North America will face off in the Sue Holloway Cup, named after Olympic medalist and Canadian Sports Hall of Famer. Teams are focused on their training as they prepare to compete in the 13th IDBF Club Crew World Championships to be held in Florida following our event.

The Breast Cancer Paddlers (BCP) Cup highlights the long standing deep rooted history between dragon boating and breast cancer. This long standing division was created at the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival to celebrate our BCP teams' commitment to dragon boating and inspiring perseverance.

The Pride Challenge Cup division has offered members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and their supporters an opportunity to compete for gold since 2016.

The newly renamed Paradragons Challenge Cup will host teams whose members are either fully or partially composed of individuals of varying abilities, who compete under the motto “Our combined disabilities are our greatest strength”.

The All Cancer Paddlers Challenge is a new division being introduced this year consisting of athletes of all genders and ages who are survivors of any type of cancer. The vision for the creation of this division is to provide opportunities for survivors of all cancer types to benefit from the physical and healing attributes of dragon boating.

The festival is looking forward to its return to in-person competition, welcoming new and returning teams as they battle it out in the beautiful setting of Mooney’s Bay in the heart of the Nation’s Capital!

*The festival will be following all health and government guidelines. Full refunds will be provided to participants should the event be cancelled due to government mandated public health restrictions