Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

rdf:langString Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

rdf:langString 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. 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. 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. The challenge has raised over CA$4 million in support of 41 charities. 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.