The Cape Breton Dragon Boat Festival 2009 is offering an opportunity for groups in the local area and across the country to participate in the world’s fastest growing water sport.
A fast, exciting and spectacular family activity experiencing phenomenal growth, Annual Dragon Boat Festivals are now held held in such cities as Singapore, London, Hamburg, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Portland, and many more. Almost every major city in Canada has a major race with several hundred paddlers. Each dragon boat team is made up of 22 people, including 20 paddlers, a drummer who keeps them in time and a steersperson who keeps the boat aimed in the proper direction to the finish line. The objective is to paddle a 12 metre dragon boat down a set course between 250 and 1,000 metres, where teamwork is more important than raw power.
The Cape Breton Dragon Boat Festival 2009 invites all dragon boat paddlers (novice to experienced teams) from across the country to visit Cape Breton and participate. An experienced steersperson will be provided to each team upon request.
Besides the dragon boat racing, the Festival weekend will offer many other activities, including a health and wellness expo and Cape Breton entertainment at the Sydney Marine Terminal.
Beneficiaries of the 2009 Dragon Boat Festival will be the Cape Breton Regional Hospital’s expansion of the Cape Breton Cancer Clinic, Unique Sports and the Cape Breastoner Dragon Boat Society.
The festival also aims to promote healthy lifestyle, community spirit, vitality and unity. The Festival Society’s main goal is to raise awareness about healthy living and to provide an enjoyable community event.
The festival begins this Friday, July 17th at the Sydney Marine Terminal at 5:00pm with the Health and Wellness Expo and Welcome to Cape Breton reception.
Races begin on Saturday, July 18 at 7 am.
