In spite of Richmond’s smoky skies, paddlers from around North America will flock to Steveston’s Imperial Landing for the seventh annual Dragon Boat Festival this Saturday.
This year, a record-breaking 78 teams are registered to race in 250-metre and 500-metre courses and an estimated 15,000 spectators are expected to line the Fraser River to watch the races throughout the day.
“Team registration sold out in April and we have the maximum number of teams this year, proving how popular this event is on the North American dragon boat racing circuit,” said Ann Phelps, Dragon Boat BC’s executive director in a press release.
Even though wildfire smoke has settled over the Lower Mainland over the past few days prompting an air quality advisory, Phelps says this won’t stop the race.
“Of course it’s concerning. But what we decided is that, regardless of where the participants are in British Columbia at this point, it’s smoky everywhere,” Phelps told the Richmond News, adding that first aid will be on site if anyone experiences difficulties.
“So we’re going to go ahead.”
Between races, the festival will also host free concerts with a Latin theme, an arts and crafts tent, a variety of food trucks and the Red Truck Patio serving craft beer, cider, wine and non-alcoholic beverages.
New this year, the festival will also have three heritage dragon boats on display. The boats were given to the City of Vancouver from Hong Kong during Expo ’86 and have been fully restored.
Events run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and festival-goers are encouraged to take transit into Steveston as parking is extremely limited.
