Will you be among the thousands attending this year’s Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival? This event draws crowds from around the world and encourages team-work, sport and charity- while also promoting tourism in our Nation’s Capital.

The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat festival is a not for profit event started in 1993. The organization held the inaugural festival in 1994 as a small half day event that has now grown to a multiday celebration of the arts, sports, culture and heritage. The festival is North America’s largest dragon boating event with over 200 teams in corporate, community and competitive categories. The festival offers free admission to multiple stages with world class entertainment, amusement attractions, extreme sports demonstrations, a variety of artisans, exhibitors, culinary treats, beach side bar, children’s area and non-stop racing.

The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is part of a larger Chinese cultural tradition that goes back 2,400 years. It began on the life-sustaining riverbanks in the valleys of southern China as a fertility rite performed to ensure bountiful crops. The first participants held their celebration on the fifth day of the lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The race was held to avert misfortune and encourage the rains needed for prosperity. The object of their worship was the dragon.

Also known as Poet’s Day, it commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a poet and Minister of State during the Chou Dynasty. Qu had protested against the corrupt government and was stripped of his office as Minister of State. He wandered about the countryside, unhappy and dejected. When local fishermen realized Qu had disappeared into the river, they raced out in their boats to save him, beating drums to scare off the fish that they thought would eat his body. They also dropped rice dumplings in the water as a sacrifice to his spirit. The scene of the fishermen racing out to save Qu Yuan is re-enacted every year in the form of dragon boat races. Rich with culture and history, to watch these races is a sight all on its own.

The first event was small and only lasted half a day as there were only 25 teams participating. This sport eventually grew to be one of the hottest sporting events in the Nation’s Capital and around the world, drawing thousands of spectators and participants from all over. By 2007, the sport had grown to 190 teams participating in both corporate and community categories over two days, making the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival the largest dragon boat festival in North America.

This event is a must-see! This year it is held on June 19-22, 2014. Located at Mooney’s Bay Park on Riverside Drive in Ottawa, Ontario – the event is easily accessible and there is an abundance of parking available. The Ottawa Sport council encourages attendance and applauds the efforts of all involved in this incredible festival.

For more information, please visit http://www.dragonboat.net