Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival returns to Telford Lake

LEDUC -- The annual Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival is set to return to Leduc this coming weekend.

This year's event was originally slated to take place along the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton, however, due to heavy rainfall and unseasonable weather patterns, the location has been changed to Telford Lake in Leduc. This year's event will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on August 15th and 16th, as members of the public are invited to enjoy a weekend of dragon boat races, along with vendors, food trucks, live performances, music, and more.

"We've obviously hosted in Leduc before, and it's a great community," said Mark Lashmar, President of the Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival Association. "They have sort of an old-town vibe and they're great people. It's a really good site. Very easy, accessible, and lots of parking."

The Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival Association was formed in 1996 and hosts an annual festival each year during the third weekend in August. The 500m races feature colourful dragon head adorned boats with a diverse group of paddlers; including a blind paddler and a wheelchair user. This year will also include paddlers from different countries, including Holland.

"It was pretty amazing to see that we were able to reach people as far away as that," said Lashmar. "They were so eager that they wanted to come, so we've coordinated putting a boat together so that they can race."

The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday morning, followed by dragon boat races throughout the day. Semi-final competitions will take place on Sunday morning, while the finals will take place in the afternoon. For this year, there will be a mixed, womens, and youth divisions, as well as a Pink Ribbon Challenge consisting of a 500m course for teams where all paddlers are breast cancer survivors.

The origin of dragon boat racing can be traced back to China over 2,000 years ago. Dragon boat races are now held worldwide internationally at all levels. In the past, teams from the Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival have qualified for international competitions.