In the summer time, Ottawa has a multitude of festivals. Big, small, loud, quiet — you’re sure to find one that floats your boat.
In some cases, literally.
The 22nd annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival saw a great turnout Saturday, buoyed by good weather and some close, entertaining races.
Team spirit was rampant throughout the expansive Mooney’s Bay Park, to the point where simply watching teams prepare for races and listening to their excited shouts was almost as entertaining as the boating.
“The atmosphere is always pretty relaxed every year, but it brings together a lot of people,” said Peter Manzo, a dragon boat racer. “It’s the largest fundraising dragon boating festival in North America. I love the draw it brings from Montreal, Toronto, and everything. It’s a big community event.”
Some participants creatively decorated their tents in the rest area.
Paddlers push to the finish line.
Competitive spirit was certainly visible, though. Manzo’s team, Fleet of Foote, won their 10th consecutive Charity Challenge Cup, a competition in which the 16 teams that raised the most money for charity row against each other.
“We’ve got a few members on our team who are part of the founding people of the festival,” said Manzo. “They like to get competitive every year, they like to defend our trophies.”
If it weren’t for the commentator’s voice shouting out a play-by-play commentary, amplified by a public address system, it would be easy to forgive an onlooker for not immediately noticing the highly competitive races.
Chinatown’s Showboat was dressed as Game of Thrones characters.
The event gave teams the opportunity to flex their creative muscles, both in terms of theming and names. One team, Chinatown’s Showboat, had a Game of Thrones-inspired theme complete with dragon eggs made of chocolate fondant and an Iron Throne with oars instead of the customary swords.
“We all got together at a team member’s home and helped paint stuff and put it together and create stuff,” said Debra Jackson, who confirmed they had worked on the elaborate design for a few weeks. “And then everybody went out and did their costumes.”
One-year-old Hugo Reichstein shows a dinosaur face while in Kylie Carter’s arms.
Team names, meanwhile, offered contestants the chance to break out their best puns. Names ranged from innocent and clever, such as Team Blazing Paddles and Team Holy Rowers, to self-referential, such as Team People in a Boat, and even featured a few risqué names including Team Slippery When Wet and Team Dirty Oars.
“We’re inappropriate,” said Cate Labelle of Team Dirty Oars, “so it felt right, somehow.”
“I think it was one of our past members’ suggestions, actually,” added team captain Amy Martin, who has been racing dragon boats for three years.
But, despite the tongue-in-cheek nickname, the team’s competitive edge was quite apparent. The Dirty Oars finished with a total time of approximately two minutes and 22 seconds, approximately eight seconds better than last year’s median score of 2:30.
“We improve every year, we’re doing well,” said Martin, “and it’s just a cool way to make new friends.”
Throughout the nice weather, the relaxed atmosphere, the victory cries and the competitive edge, ultimately what brings contestants back is a sense of camaraderie.
“We’ve got a great group of people on our team and everybody has got a focus, and everyone wants the same goal,” said Cathey McLoughlan of Chinatown’s Showboat. “It’s for our community, and it’s awesome.”
