Sudbury's 17th annual Dragon Boat Festival kicks off early Saturday morning and features a full day of races and fun.
This year's festival will see 42 teams battle it out on the waters of Ramsey Lake for dragon boat supremacy.
The first race of the day goes off at 9:30 a.m. and the races are expected to wind up around 5 p.m. that evening.
For the past 16 years, festival organizers have been selecting different capital campaigns to support and this year's recipient of team pledges is the Northern Cancer Foundation and Sam Bruno PET Scan committee.
“To date, we've raised about $1.5 million for different projects around the city,” said Katherine Walton, festival coordinator.
“It's always a capital campaign, something involving bricks and mortar or in this case a PET scanner for Sudbury.”
Each of the 42 teams raises money through pledges, and many teams go above and beyond just collecting donations, by hosting fundraising events in the weeks and months leading up to the festival.
“We're down a few teams this year actually,” said Walton. “Last year we had 50 and we're at 42 this year, so hopefully next year we get that number back up again.”
While there will be plenty of action out on the water there will also be lots to see and do on land, with vendors, exhibitors, children's activities and more.
This year's Dragon's Den is being run by Tony V's and they will be supplying the meals for all of the teams, and there will be a number of other food vendors on hand in Bell Park for patrons to satisfy their hunger.
Entry to the park is free if you just want to check out the races, but vendors and exhibitors will be charging a fee for food and wares.
*On the front page of the July 14 issue of Northern Life, it was indicated that the festival would take place at the Northern Water Sports Centre. The festival is happening at its regular location at the main beach in Bell Park. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
