Vancouver Island Dragon Boat Festival

As we all do our part to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, we at the new Vancouver Island Dragon Boat Festival are continuing to post material that paddlers of all kinds might find interesting. For simplicity combined with athleticism and a total disregard for most accepted laws of physics, we turn to bamboo pole paddling, where paddlers turn a simple log into a variety of race, balance and flexibility events. The launch, for example, is astounding.... #fgpc #vidbf #paddlelife #dragonboat #dragonboatfestival

Dragon boat racing can take many forms, but some of the most bizarre include drift racing and night racing. Unlike traditional dragon boat racing where speed is paramount, drift racing focuses on steering as 25-metre boats careen around narrow waterways. In this video, shot in Foshan, China, race organizers deliberately place rocks on the course for boats to hit if they fail to make one of the many tight turns in the race.... Interested in dragon boat racing? Check out Victoria's new dragon boat festival at vidbf.com, planned for Aug. 6-8, 2021. #vidbf #fgpc #paddlelife #dragonboat

All of us who dragon boat know that when a crew is in absolute sync and the boat is gliding magnificently, the sport becomes transcendental. That mood is captured splendidly by richards.journeys during a dragon boat event in Taiwan. #fgpc #vidbf #paddlelife #dragonboat #dragonboatfestival

We thought we'd share this video of New Zealand's Valley Dragonboat Club paddlers as they battle massive swells in February of last year. Vancouver Island paddlers (and steerspeople!) will remember the race FGPC helped to host in Cowichan Bay in 2015. Talk about keeping calm and paddling on! https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=604628696996417... #vidbf #fgpc #paddlelife #dragonboat

As most of us know, New Zealand has virtually eliminated COVID-19, allowing athletes to return to most activities. Here’s a short video of dragon-boat racing in Auckland recently. #fgpc #vidbf #paddlelife #dragonboat #dragonboatfestival Auckland Dragon Boat Association

The Fairway Gorge Paddling Club had an amazing surge in kilometres paddled over the weekend, with the club's total at Monday morning registering in at 1,243 kilometres! We're now heading east from Edmonton in our cross-Canada Super Paddler series, waving a virtual hello as we pass paddling clubs along the way. Any club can join the program as we attempt to paddle virtually from Victoria, B.C. to Newfoundland.... Infomation and tracker: https://fgpaddle.com//outrigger/fgpc-super-paddler-series/ #fgpc #vidbf #dragonboat #outrigger Edmonton Dragon Boat Racing Club (EDBRC) Leduc Boat Club Outrigger Team Leduc Boat Club

One of the great things about dragon boating is we’re all part of an international community. This video from The Canadian Armed Forces shows how LCol Melissa Reyes and Maj Leonie Farrell’s passion for dragon boating cannot be defeated, despite the challenges of COVID-19. Fairway Gorge Paddling Club, hosts of the new Vancouver Island Dragon Boat Festival, has had many CAF-affiliated teams and team members either as members of the club or frequent racers at our regattas, most... notably the Navy Dragon Anchors and FGPC’s Hornets Dragon Boat Team, which traces its roots to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Learn more about reserving a seat at the 2021 Vancouver Island Dragon Boat Festival, Aug. 6-8, at VIDBF.com #vidbf #fgpc #dragonboat #paddlelife #CALife Canadian Armed Forces

Great things happen when we all pull together. Fairway Gorge Paddling Club's inaugural Vancouver Island Dragon Boat Festival is a new Victoria festival planned for Aug. 6 -8, 2021. You can reserve a seat now by registering early at fgpcshop.com/Pre-Register ... #vidbf #dragonboat #fgpc #paddlelife

For those in the Vancouver area, you might be interested in the new BC Sports Hall of Fame dragon boat exhibition that’s slated to begin on Feb. 12, 2021. On display will be two wooden dragon boats, artifacts, cultural displays and more. Visitors will also be able to hear athletes’ stories. #fgpc #vidbf #paddlelife #dragonboat #dragonboatfestival

Alternate seating as a form of physical distancing while dragon boating in Orlando, Florida. Note that this form of training is not permitted in B.C. at this time; but we’re preparing for the reopening of the sport and for racing. We’ll be ready to greet you at the startline, and at practices, when the time is right. #fgpc #vidbf #paddlelife #dragonboat #dragonboatfestival

Here's the Edmonton Dragon Boat Racing Club's Tsunami crew training in Victoria last February, hosted by Fairway Gorge Paddling Club, just before COVID-19 took dragon boats off the water. We hope to see them, and all our friends, at the new Vancouver Island Dragon Boat Festival, Aug. 6 - 8, 2021. #FGPC #paddlelife #dragonboat