Welcome to North America’s flagship dragon boat festival! With teams from around the world joining us at the Festival, we know that you’ll enjoy paddling at this premier event.

Thank you for kicking off summer with us on the shores of False Creek in 2025. Despite the downpours, your energy shone through- whether on the water with teams from around the world joining us, on land especially at the TD Main Stage with our friends Lights and Felix Cartal, celebrating our community at our community pavilions, or enjoying the best of our community with our local vendors and largest food truck selection ever (and who can blame you given how tasty they were)! Despite moving our entire Festival with just 3 months of planning, you came out to support us at our new home at Concord Pacific Place- thank you for being there with us.

It’s time to return to False Creek in June 2027: light up False Creek again at the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival from June 25-27. Greatness takes time. Are you ready?

Registration and Questions

2027 registration opens early September at register.dragonboatbc.ca. Information on fees and registration can be found online at concorddragonboatfestival.ca/register. Additional assistance and information is available by emailing our office at info@dragonboatbc.ca.

Race Information

• Premier Mixed, Premier Women, and Junior Mixed Divisions: 4 X 500 M.
• Premier Open: 3 X 500 M.
• The top teams in the Premier Mixed, Premier Women, and Premier Open divisions will be invited to participate in the Guts and Glory 2,000 M race, where up to 18 boats will race at 10 second intervals.
• Specialty Cup Races: 100 M knockout race distance depending on number of participating teams: 1-5 teams= 100M Final, 6-7 teams= 2X100M (Knockout then Final), 8-9 teams= 3X100M (2 Knockout then Final). Specialty Cup race programs change from year to year, but usually include the International Cup, U24 Cup, Senior Cup, Pride Cup, Para Cup, and Breast Cancer Cup.
• Please note: race program is expected, but may change depending on local considerations including prevailing weather conditions at the time of the event.

Visiting Team Training Sessions

Visiting teams are allowed one 90 minute training slot per registration from the Monday before the Festival until early afternoon of the opening day of the Festival on Friday. Additional slots are subject to a fee and availability.

We highly encourage teams to take training sessions from Monday to Thursday before the Festival, as slots are limited and demand is high on Friday. Our main office will notify visiting teams when we begin accepting training slot bookings in approximately mid March each year via email.

Bookings are accepted only through info@dragonboatbc.ca starting in the Spring. Please wait until you receive the email indicating visiting team practice registrations are open before contacting us.

Learn to Paddle

Groups looking to start teams to race in the Festival can visit our year-round paddling club website at dragonzone.ca/dragonboat for help with signing up an existing group intro to dragon boat practice and race package. Customized group packages and general assistance is available through info@dragonboatbc.ca.

Individuals looking to learn to paddle and race in the Festival can join one of our 4 or 8 week Intro to Dragon Boat programs; visit dragonzone.ca/programs for more info.

Equipment

All races at the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival are held in standard 20 person BuK boats. IDBF 202a wooden paddles and approved lifejackets will be available for racers to use. Please note that all racers must wear lifejackets at all times on the water.

Paddlers are allowed to bring their own lifejackets and paddles. Paddles must meet the IDBF 202a specification for use at Dragon Boat BC events. Paddlers supplying their own lifejackets must ensure that the lifejackets are approved by the Department of Transport (DOT) or Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). Inflatable life jackets are not allowed at Dragon Boat BC races.

All Access paddlers requiring adaptive equipment must contact info@dragonboatbc.ca to ensure that their equipment meets Festival requirements.

Rules and Regulations

The Dragon Boat BC Official Rules and Regulations can be found online under Downloads. New editions of the rules are issued each year in the late Winter/early Spring.

Waivers and Rosters

Waivers and rosters for adult and junior teams are completed online only. If you encounter difficulties, please visit Downloads for help guides on how to submit rosters and waivers. Please note that you will need to submit your rosters and waivers electronically prior to the Festival by the date indicated by the Race Registrar to receive your Race Package. Paper waivers and rosters are not accepted.

Manager/Steersperson Meetings

A virtual Captain/Manager meeting will be held prior to the Festival, typically held the Saturday before the Festival around 5:00 PM PST. The exact time and location of the meeting will be announced in advance via email. This meeting goes over the Festival logistics, specifically questions on schedules, timings, where things are located, parking and transportation, and additional important information. Race information will also be provided at this time.

A separate mandatory steers, drummer, captain, and manager meeting will be held on Saturday morning at Marshalling approximately 1-1.5 hours before the first race.

A separate safety meeting for administrators and steers will be held immediately before each Guts and Glory race for teams invited to participate in the race.

Marshalling

The Festival uses nine boat fleets for its race operations, with two fleets simultaneously on the water. The Festival uses a pre-marshalling and marshalling station. Races within 4 race numbers of each other will not have time to get off the water, and may not make it in time to their next race.

Keep in mind that you should aim to be AT Marshalling approximately 35 minutes prior to your scheduled race time. We recommend you leave Racer Village around 45 minutes before your scheduled race time to allow extra time to make your way through the crowds from Racer Village to Marshalling. Washrooms and water refill stations are located conveniently near the Marshalling area.

To find out what race is currently on the water, watch the livestream on the large screens around the site, or on your mobile device at concordlive.ca or on the Dragon Boat BC Youtube channel.

While we endeavour to stay on schedule, with 100+ races over the weekend, races may run early or late. Please ensure your team is organized well before marshalling time, and factors in appropriate time to get from Racer Village to Marshalling.

Visiting Teams

Coming from out of town or abroad? We look forward to welcoming you to Vancouver, and helping you make the most of your time while you’re here. Visit our Visiting Team page for more information on team hotel blocks, pre-arrival visa and ETA checks, and programming for visiting teams.

Visa letters of invitation are issued ONLY for teams with confirmed and fully paid registration. Visa letters MUST be requested no later than March 31 of the Festival year in order to provide sufficient time for processing and issuance. Please note that while we will verify your team is racing at the event, we cannot provide further support other than directing you to your nearest Canadian Embassy or Consulate for support. Visit our Visiting Team page for more information.

Email info@dragonboatbc.ca for information on hotels, bus transfers, and sightseeing to make the most of your time in British Columbia and Vancouver.

Team Services

Make sure you’ve ticked off all the boxes to prepare for the Festival. Visit our Team Services page to get information on pre-ordering services and deadlines.

General Safety Protocols

Please note that the Festival will be abiding by, or looking to exceed prevailing public health guidance to ensure our community’s safety. For our latest communicable disease prevention protocols in effect, visit dragonboatbc.ca/covid19. All visitors and racers are expected to abide by these protocols as a condition of participating in the Festival.

Terms and Conditions

Refunds, Withdrawals, and Transfers

• Races before June 30: Refund requests accepted until March 31, and provided: to the original method of payment or cheque minus a 25% administration fee, or a full credit valid until September 30 of the following year. No refunds/credits given after March 31.
• Transfers to a different team, divisional changes, or name changes are only allowed until each race registration deadline (approximately 2-3 weeks before each event) and subject to capacity. A difference in value due to a transfer is not refunded or credited. Transfers or divisional changes may be subject to an additional charge at Dragon Boat BC’s discretion.
• Packages: Deadlines for refunds/credits/transfers are handled based on the date of the first event in the package (i.e. if the first event in the package is in May, the refund request deadline is March 31, and change request deadline is approximately 2-3 weeks before the first event as indicated on the online site). The package is treated as one entire whole, with the exception of event cancellation or amendments by Dragon Boat BC as described below. Teams may not split a package between multiple teams- the registration must be used for 1 team only.

Payment Terms

• All rates are in Canadian dollars, and subject to applicable taxes (5% GST, limited circumstances 7% PST).
• Payment is accepted: online through card; via email through a Dragon Boat BC gift card; in-person through card or Dragon Boat BC gift card; or via mailbox/office drop off via Canadian dollar denominated cheque. Cash is not accepted. Declined payments will be subject to an additional administration fee.
• Race registration fees for a specific event must be fully cleared by each registration deadline. Dragon Boat BC may cancel registrations if race registration fees are not paid: by the corresponding race registration deadline without further notice, or if the event has reached capacity with 48 hours notice to the team’s registrants and/or administrators.
• Dragon Boat BC reserves the right to remove any promotional discounts if the registration is not fully paid by the time that the promotional discount would normally expire without further notice (i.e. a registration with a time-limited promotional price not paid by the time the promotion expires may be adjusted to the non-promotional price).
• Dragon Boat BC reserves the right to review registrations for eligibility, and modify registrations and registration prices if a registrant does not meet the qualifications for a specific division or rate. Registrants are responsible for any increase in registration price.

General

• Registrants agree to be bound by Dragon Boat BC’s policies and conditions, as published and updated and available online including: Official Competition Rules and Regulations, and Official Club Paddling Rules and Regulations.
• In the event of full event cancellation by Dragon Boat BC due to smoke, heat, or public health emergencies, race registration fees will be: fully refunded or carried forward for future use on a gift card redeemable for any Dragon Boat BC programs, races, or merchandise. This excludes fees collected for purposes other than racing, and specifically excludes situations where the race program is shortened or amended by Dragon Boat BC.
• Full terms and conditions are available at the time of registration at register.dragonboatbc.ca. In the event of inconsistencies between this page and the online registration portal at register.dragonboatbc.ca, the online registration portal’s terms will prevail.