32nd Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival makes waves at Mooney’s Bay

Ottawa’s annual Dragon Boat Festival is taking place at Mooney’s Bay this weekend. CTV’s Camille Wilson caught up with some of the attendees.

The annual Dragon Boat Festival is back for it’s 32nd year in Ottawa.

The event is the largest festival of its kind in North America, drawing teams from all over the world. This year’s festival has about 145 teams with 72 cities participating.

Along with teams all across Canada, paddlers competed in at least two 500 metre races at Mooney’s Bay on Saturday.

“The community side is just incredible because it brings together all walks of life,” says John Brooman, CEO and president of the Tim Hortons Dragon Boat Festival.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a first-time paddler or if you’re on the national team. People are just out here having a wonderful time. It raises a ton of money for charity,”

It is one of the biggest sporting and entertainment events in the nation’s capital and is part of a larger Chinese cultural tradition that goes back 2,400 years.

“I grew up with the Dragon Boat Festival as a kid in the UK and I really loved it,” said attendee Kyan Cheng.

“I really wanted to take my three-year-old son to experience it for the first time here. I’ve talked about it and it’s part of our culture. He’s just really loving it.”

Sandy Foote, captain of Fleet of Foote, says his team has participated in the event from the very beginning.

“This is our 32nd year at the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival. We come every year and have a lot of fun,” Foote said.

“It’s our biggest festival that we do. We do seven festivals every year. This one is the best one.”

The festival is raising more than $250,000 for charity this weekend and has raised more than $6 million over the years.

The two-day celebration also includes exhibitors, food, a Breast Cancer Survivor Challenge, traditional flower ceremony and dance performances.

“It’s great to see such big crowds out for this type of event,” said Chris Bell. “Lots of big smiles on people’s faces. It’s been a good, good experience.”

There is free admission to all the races and free parking at the Canada Post parking lot.

Races are every 10 minutes and will run until Sunday.

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