71 Teams To Participate In 15th Annual Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival On Saturday
/It's the 15th anniversary of Peterborough's amazing Dragon Boat Festival this year...
photo courtesy Dragon Boat Festival
This year's Festival takes place Saturday, June 13th, and 71 teams are participating—including 63 community teams and eight breast cancer survivor teams.
photo courtesy Dragon Boat Festival
More than 1,400 paddlers will hit the water on Saturday and make a dash for the finish line at Little Lake, Del Crary Park.
Races get underway at 8:30 a.m. with the Mixed Medical Challenge, followed by the Mixed Business Challenge, Breast Cancer Survivor Challenge, Mixed Community Challenge Ladies Challenge, Community Competitive Challenge, and Junior Challenge. Morning heats in each division will determine the placement of teams for the afternoon races, based on fastest times.
Photo Courtesy Dragon Boat Festival
Special Opening Ceremonies marking the 15th anniversary of the Festival will begin around 11:30 a.m. following the special breast cancer survivor race featuring eight survivor teams.
Local dignitaries involved in the ceremonies include: Mayor Daryl Bennett, MPP Jeff Leal, PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway, and Robert Wellstood, CEO of the Festival’s platinum sponsor Kawartha Credit Union.
***The Peterborough Singers Pop Ensemble will perform the National Anthem and perform during the traditional flower ceremony following the opening ceremonies. During the flower ceremony, announcers Angela Rose and Vince Bierworth will read the names of former members from the survivor teams who have lost their battle against breast cancer—a powerful reminder of what the festival is all about.
Photo Courtesy Dragon Boat Festival
Building on a successful 2014 event, where more than $200,000 was raised to support the Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s (PRHC) mammography program with new reporting workstations for radiologists and new breast viewing software, the 2015 Dragon Boat Festival’s goal is to raise another $200,000 towards ensuring a strong future for the Breast Assessment Centre at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) by contributing to the purchase of a new, state-of-the-art mammography unit.
Learn more about the Festival here.
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