Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival
1 Athletes Way V5Y 0B1 Vancouver, BC, Canada

Today marks the last day of celebrations for the Lunar New Year in traditional Chinese culture. While the celebrations have been dampened this year by COVID, we worked with Hon Hsing Athletic Club of Vancouver to bring the spirit of the season to your home. We wish you a healthy year of the Golden Ox. , This video is produced as part of "Paddles Up! The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Exhibit," now open Fridays and Saturdays at BC Sp...orts Hall of Fame. Book your tickets now at bcsportshall.com/tickets! Video and exhibit supported by Concord Pacific - Canada, Canadian Heritage, Government of British Columbia, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver - Cultural Services, Vessi, Oddball Workshop, The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings (FACTOR), HKETO Toronto, Metro Vancouver, and Fei and Milton K. Wong Family Foundation.

Thank you to everyone that visited "Paddles Up!" this past Friday and Saturday at BC Sports Hall of Fame! The exhibit will be open until the end of September; pre-book tickets at bcsportshall.com/tickets. We're also gradually adding our Heritage Collection by Oddball Workshop that was unveiled at the exhibit to our online shop. Take a piece of the Festival home with you at shop.dragonboatbc.ca/collections/heritagecollection!

Today marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year/Year of the Ox in traditional Chinese culture! We are honoured to share pieces of traditional Chinese culture with BC Sports Hall of Fame at "Paddles Up! The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Exhibit" opening today, and explore dragon boat's intersections with local history. On February 12, 2010, Kamini Jain and Hugh Fisher, both Team Canada / Équipe Canada alumni and False Creek Racing Canoe Club/Pemberton Canoe drago...n boat coaches, carried the Olympic Flame in a dragon boat and voyageur canoe en route to BC Place for the Opening Ceremony. Explore over 30 years of culture, art, and sport at our new exhibit, now open on Friday and Saturdays. Book tickets at bcsportshall.com/tickets! This exhibit is supported by Concord Pacific - Canada, Canadian Heritage, Government of British Columbia, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver - Cultural Services, Vessi, Oddball Workshop, Metro Vancouver, HKETO Toronto, The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings (FACTOR), and patron partner Fei and Milton K. Wong Family Foundation.

"The one thing unique to my team is we all hate winter training, but we still do it then go for brunch after. And it isn't just brunch with friends. It’s oh-we've-all-been-out-for-2-hours-in-0-degree-weather, working-your-butts-off-and-now-we-finally-get-to-be-inside-and-have-brunch every weekend." - Jeffrey Lai, UBC Current Dragon Boat coach and False Creek Racing Canoe Club Premier Dragon Boat Program paddler. Hear why #dragonboat matters to our community in our mini-docu...mentary series, on view at #PaddlesUp opening this Friday at BC Sports Hall of Fame! Pre-book your tickets now at bcsportshall.com/tickets Special thanks to Concord Pacific - Canada Canadian Heritage Government of BC City of Vancouver - Cultural Services, and HKETO Toronto for their support.

Find unique archival pieces like our 2019 Festival street banners at our new online store on shop.dragonboatbc.ca! Plus, enjoy free Canadian shipping on orders over $100 and free curbside pickup on all orders.

Paddling a boat's much more fun with your team. And that hasn't changed since dragon boat started. What's your favourite memory with your team? As we get ready for "Paddles Up! The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Exhibition," opening soon at BC Sports Hall of Fame, we're sharing parts of our archives and over 30 years of history, sport, and culture. We're glad to have Concord Pacific - Canada, Canadian Heritage, Government of British Columbia, BC Arts Council, and City of Vancouver - Cultural Services on our team for this project.

Through this year, we've encountered non-stop bad news. We'd like to instead bring good news instead to our community, and are happy to announce that "Paddles Up! The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Exhibit" will be opening at BC Sports Hall of Fame in late January. The exhibit looks at the dragon boat festival's impact in Vancouver through craft, artefacts, and sport. Hear the stories from paddlers of all backgrounds, and see items dating back to Expo 86. While ...we can't wait for COVID to pass and to reunite on the water, we're honoured to keep the Festival's spirit going through this innovative project. We can't wait to welcome you to the exhibit and announce more details soon! Thank you to Concord Pacific - Canada, Canadian Heritage, Government of British Columbia, City of Vancouver - Local Government, and BC Arts Council for their support of this project and our operational pivot through the past few months.

This weekend would have marked the 32nd Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival. While the roar of the crowds has been temporarily silenced, the spark that inspires our event remains unextinguished. We remain committed to helping share the ancient Chinese traditions behind dragon boat with our community. Our belief in our founding mission to build a place where different voices can be heard, our local community's talents are showcased, and where everyone can belong remains stro...ng. As we look to our Festival's future, we will continue to help build a community where marginalized BIPOC voices can be heard, where people of different abilities can participate in sport and recreation, and where all members of our community can enjoy being together. Though we cannot be together physically right now, we look forward to when we can meet again on the shores of False Creek to celebrate community, culture, and competition. As Founding and Title Partner, Concord Pacific - Canada has stood with the event and Dragon Boat BC from day one over 30 years ago. We express our deep gratitude for their generous support and continued belief in the Festival's mission and work.

In the heat of the moment, it's easy to miss the little moments that define the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival. The spark of inspiration that drives our event lives on despite a temporary pause. And when we return, we'll be back stronger than ever.

Our founding partner Concord Pacific - Canada has donated 1,000,000 masks to keep people safe as they begin to return to their day-to-day lives outside of their home. These masks will be allocated as recipients see fit, whether to reopen community centres, protect front-line health workers, or help vulnerable community members safely navigate the pandemic. 200,000 have been given to the City of Vancouver - Local Government; 300,000 have been split between City of Burnaby - Lo...cal Government, City of Richmond - Local Government, local Indigenous nations, and non-profits like us and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. A further 100,000 has been gifted to the Province of BC; 400,000 have been split between Calgary, Toronto, Seattle, and North York General Hospital. Thank you to Concord for helping us keep recreation safe. Whether going for a paddle or a walk, recreation is more important than ever to help individuals stay healthy.

In accordance with BC's Restart Plan and guidance from public health officials, it is with a heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of the 2020 Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival. Please click through to read our statement at this time including next steps. This is the first time in 32 years that the Festival is not able to run, and the first year since 1986 when races were run at Expo 86 that dragon boat races will not be held in Vancouver.

To all of the mothers out there of every kind, thank you for the love, kindness, inspiration, and allowing us to stand on your shoulders as we grew up. Happy Mothers Day to all!

It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge Selena Wong's passing yesterday morning. Selena was a long-time paddler, coach, volunteer, and fixture in our paddling community. Her boundless energy and positive outlook will be deeply missed by those who had the opportunity to know her. We will remember her deep passion towards supporting the sport's growth, giving back to the community, and building connections with paddlers from across the world. As a long-time volunteer with the Festival, she served in many different roles including as visiting team coordinator, medal distribution, and volunteer recruitment. Her contributions to building a better community will be a lasting legacy to her generous spirit. We send our deepest condolences to her family, friends, teammates, and colleagues during these difficult times.

Dragon Boat BC announces that this year's Festival is tentatively postponed to September 12-13. We continue to cautiously and actively monitor updates regarding COVID-19, review all options to ensure the community’s safety, and hope that our community can come together in the future to celebrate the spirit of resilience. Full statement and information on registration policy changes available at dragonboatbc.ca/media and concorddragonboatfestival.ca/alerts.

Dragon Boat BC and the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival are aware of the updates regarding COVID-19, and has been in constant contact with government agencies and key stakeholders over the past two weeks to evaluate and monitor the situation. A plan of action has already been submitted to government agencies and stakeholders, and we have been waiting for their guidance on our next steps prior to releasing another statement. In an effort to ensure that our messaging is as ...clear and accurate as possible during this time of uncertainty, we had avoided releasing partial information this past week. However, we understand that teams require information well ahead of time, and will be announcing our full or partial plan of action this week to provide more clarity on the situation. Thank you for your understanding and support. We wish you, your team, and your families well during these difficult times, and hope to see you in the future.

The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society is continuing to plan for the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival on June 19-21, 2020. We continue to actively evaluate the situation as we get closer to the event. Please click through for our full statement.

The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society is deeply aware of the current situation regarding COVID-19, and will be issuing a formal statement tonight to provide guidance on our events and programs. The statement will be posted on our Facebook pages, and also posted on dragonboatbc.ca/media. The safety and wellbeing of the paddling community during and after this situation is of paramount importance to the Society. We are committed to providing timely updates and... accurate information to all of our stakeholders. We appreciate the support of the entire paddling community during this time. We advise individuals looking for more information on COVID-19 to consult the Ministry of Health's website, and for all individuals to follow best practices in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 including staying at home if they exhibit symptoms and practicing regular hand washing.

Happy International Women's Day to all women, especially those inspiring youth, working with their communities, and creating change in their own way! Concord Pacific - Canada Concord Social

Happy Family Day! We're counting down to the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival, and can't wait to see more pictures of our teams celebrating with their paddling family. Concord Pacific - Canada

Around the world, firecrackers are going off, and lion dancers are taking to the streets today to usher in the year of the golden rat! We wish you luck, prosperity, and joy this year. Celebrate the new year this weekend with us in Vancouver's Chinatown at International Village, and pick up a free dragon boat red envelope. Visit dragonzone.ca/community for more info.

Break In Update: We have inventoried the missing items, which include computers, backups, our office safe, staff personal effects/belongings, gifts from other paddling communities around the world from over the years, and red envelopes for our Lunar New Year celebrations this weekend. Things like this happen from time to time; unfortunately, it just happened to impact us this time. Thank you to the Vancouver Park Board/Creekside Community Centre Community Centre, Vancouver P...olice Department, and everyone that helped us bring the office back to regular operations or that has offered support. Some people have asked about helping chip in to offset the stolen items. There is no pressure, but if you would like to contribute towards replacing the stolen items or helping offset costs, there is a link below to a GoFundMe. However, we think the biggest show of support we could get would be to see everyone in Chinatown this weekend to ring in the Year of the Rat. We think a bit of bad luck shouldn't spoil the celebrations. Visit dragonzone.ca/community for info on our celebrations over the next few weekends.

Due to a significant break-in and theft overnight at our main community centre offices, our offices will be closed today and tomorrow. The docks are operating normally, and there are no changes to the practice schedule. Further updates will be forthcoming once we have a full inventory of what has been taken.