Thank you for joining us at the 2025 FreshCo Richmond Dragon Boat Festival! The sunny day matched the sunny energy from the crowds cheering on our teams. While we can’t wait to be back in Richmond again soon, the wait will be just a little longer than usual: due to schedule conflicts with other events and scheduling challenges, the 2026 edition of the FreshCo Richmond Dragon Boat Festival originally scheduled for September 2026, is postponed to August 2027.

This step was only taken after exploring a range of options with stakeholders like the City of Richmond and the Province, while also speaking with racers. Unfortunately, we have determined that no other option was viable in delivering the event.

We want to thank all of our partners and racers for stepping up to make this event a success in the past- and we know with your support, it’ll come back stronger than ever next year. We also want to recognize FreshCo for being title partner since 2023; as their partnership with this Festival comes to an end, we’re grateful for the memories created with their help, and look forward to future collaborations with them at our other events.

If you were registered for this year’s FreshCo Richmond Dragon Boat Festival, we’ll be in touch soon with your team administrators to confirm if you’d like to carry forward your registration to 2027, to another one of our events, or get a credit or refund.

But, still have much more in store. Visit dragonboatbc.ca/race to see our other events in the 2026 race season! We look forward to writing the next chapter of this story with you all in 2027.

Welcome to the Richmond Dragon Boat Festival! Get ready for a season like no other: due to impacts from global events visiting our home in cities around BC, this year will see more changes than normal. It’s time for a refresh: visit us at Richmond’s Steveston Harbour, as teams celebrate another great season out on the water.

NOTE: Information presented on this page may be from the 2025 Festival for archival purposes only. For current updates, please email info@dragonboatbc.ca.

Registration and Questions

The 2027 event will be held in August 2027. Registration will open in late summer 2026. Questions may be sent to info@dragonboatbc.ca.

Race Information

Registrants in Mixed and Women’s Divisions will race three times on a 500 M race course. No specialty cups are being offered. The race program is subject to change.

Equipment

All races at the Richmond Dragon Boat Festival are held in BuK boats. IDBF 202a wooden paddles and approved lifejackets will be available for racers to use. Please note that all racers must wear lifejackets at all times on the water.

Paddlers are allowed to bring their own lifejackets and paddles. Paddles must meet the IDBF 202a specification for use at Dragon Boat BC events. Paddlers supplying their own lifejackets must ensure that the lifejackets are approved by the Department of Transport (DOT) or Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). Inflatable life jackets are not allowed at Dragon Boat BC races.

All Access paddlers requiring adaptive equipment must contact info@dragonboatbc.ca to ensure that their equipment meets Festival requirements.

Rules and Regulations

The Dragon Boat BC Official Rules and Regulations can be found online under Downloads. New editions of the rules are issued each year in the late Winter/early Spring.

The Richmond Dragon Boat Festival does not require that women’s teams have a female steersperson. Women’s teams at the Festival may have a male steersperson. We highly encourage all teams to take advantage of our steering clinics to build up enough steerspeople on each team to be self-sufficient.

Waivers and Rosters

Waivers and rosters for adult and junior teams are completed online at register.dragonboatbc.ca. If you encounter difficulties, please visit Downloads for help guides on how to submit rosters and waivers.

Please note that you will need to submit your rosters and waivers prior to the Festival by the date indicated by the Race Registrar to race.

Manager/Steersperson Meetings

A Manager and Steersperson safety briefing will be held at 8:00 AM in the marshalling area.

Visiting Teams

Coming from out of town or abroad? We look forward to welcoming you to the area, and helping you make the most of your time while you’re here. Click here for our visiting team info page.

Location and Parking

The event is located at Imperial Landing by Steveston Village in Richmond. Please be considerate of our neighbours when arriving.

Parking will be available at the Fentiman Place parkade, a short walk away from the race site. Please enter the area on Fentiman Place off Garry Street. The parkade will be located at the end of Fentiman Place. Parking is available for a minimum donation of $10 (all proceeds to Richmond Food Bank and Learning Buddies Network). Parking is limited, so please plan to carpool. The parking lot will open at 7:00 am.

REMINDER: Please DO NOT park near Britannia Shipyards.

       Please see here for a map for the parking location.

Tents 

Tents are not provided. The area set aside for racer equipment storage may change from year to year. Info will be provided before the Festival via the Race Registrar.

Paddler Marketplace, Beverage Gardens/Food Trucks, and Medal Ceremonies

This year, the Festival site is compacted in the area around Imperial Landing and the boardwalk.

Visit the marketplace to pick up paddles, accessories, Festival merchandise, and more! Food trucks and beverage garden are conveniently located by the racer storage area; you must have ID to enjoy alcoholic beverages. Please bring contactless payment if possible.

Medals can be picked up from the Race Registrar’s tent approximately 30 minutes after your final race time. Remember to drop by the photo backdrop with your team regardless of if you got a medal to get your official team photo taken!

While you are there, please remember to visit and support the Maritime Festival as well!

General Safety Protocols

Please note that the Festival will be abiding by, or looking to exceed prevailing public health guidance to ensure our community’s safety. For our latest communicable disease prevention protocols in effect, visit dragonboatbc.ca/covid19. All visitors and racers are expected to abide by these protocols as a condition of participating in the Festival.

Terms and Conditions

Refunds, Withdrawals, and Transfers

• Races after June 30: Refund requests accepted until May 31, and provided: to the original method of payment or cheque minus a 25% administration fee, or a full credit valid until September 30 of the following year. No refunds/credits given after May 31.
• Transfers to a different team, divisional changes, or name changes are only allowed until each race registration deadline (approximately 2-3 weeks before each event) and subject to capacity. A difference in value due to a transfer is not refunded or credited. Transfers or divisional changes may be subject to an additional charge at Dragon Boat BC’s discretion.
• Packages: Deadlines for refunds/credits/transfers are handled based on the date of the first event in the package (i.e. if the first event in the package is in May, the refund request deadline is March 31, and change request deadline is approximately 2-3 weeks before the first event as indicated on the online site). The package is treated as one entire whole, with the exception of event cancellation or amendments by Dragon Boat BC as described below. Teams may not split a package between multiple teams- the registration must be used for 1 team only.

Payment Terms

• All rates are in Canadian dollars, and subject to applicable taxes (5% GST, limited circumstances 7% PST).
• Payment is accepted: online through card; via email through a Dragon Boat BC gift card; in-person through card or Dragon Boat BC gift card; or via mailbox/office drop off via Canadian dollar denominated cheque. Cash is not accepted. Declined payments will be subject to an additional administration fee.
• Race registration fees for a specific event must be fully cleared by each registration deadline. Dragon Boat BC may cancel registrations if race registration fees are not paid: by the corresponding race registration deadline without further notice, or if the event has reached capacity with 48 hours notice to the team’s registrants and/or administrators.
• Dragon Boat BC reserves the right to remove any promotional discounts if the registration is not fully paid by the time that the promotional discount would normally expire without further notice (i.e. a registration with a time-limited promotional price not paid by the time the promotion expires may be adjusted to the non-promotional price).
• Dragon Boat BC reserves the right to review registrations for eligibility, and modify registrations and registration prices if a registrant does not meet the qualifications for a specific division or rate. Registrants are responsible for any increase in registration price.

General

• Registrants agree to be bound by Dragon Boat BC’s policies and conditions, as published and updated and available online including: Official Competition Rules and Regulations, and Official Club Paddling Rules and Regulations.
• In the event of full event cancellation by Dragon Boat BC due to smoke, heat, or public health emergencies, race registration fees will be: fully refunded or carried forward for future use on a gift card redeemable for any Dragon Boat BC programs, races, or merchandise. This excludes fees collected for purposes other than racing, and specifically excludes situations where the race program is shortened or amended by Dragon Boat BC.
• Full terms and conditions are available at the time of registration at register.dragonboatbc.ca. In the event of inconsistencies between this page and the online registration portal at register.dragonboatbc.ca, the online registration portal’s terms will prevail.

The Richmond Dragon Boat Festival is held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands and waters of the Musqueam peoples.