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Roar of the Dragon Boats
Monday, May 11th, 2009 by GetawayBC.com
Nanaimo’s Save-On-Foods Dragon Boat Festival is one of the biggest parties of the summer.
This year’s event, July 10-12, will be the seventh annual in the Harbour City and is expected to be the largest yet.
Last year close to 80 teams participated – compared to 25 in the event’s first year – and some 7,000 people attended the festival at Maffeo Sutton Park and Swy-a-lana Lagoon.
Lots of folks come to watch the paddling action in the inner harbour, but the opening ceremonies and Sunday’s carnation ceremony also draw a crowd.
The carnation ceremony involves teams of breast cancer survivors casting pink flowers into the water in remembrance of those who died or in honour of others still fighting for their lives.
The carnation ceremony also reinforces the importance of the fundraising aspect of the dragonboat festival.
Nearly $225,000 was raised during the first six Nanaimo festivals.
All the money goes toward cancer diagnostic and rehabilitation equipment for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.;