The Barrie Public Library is the proud host of Barrie's largest waterfront festival, the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival. It’s held in Barrie’s beautiful Heritage Park with races taking place on Kempenfelt Bay. The 17th annual Barrie Dragon Boat Festival will take place on Saturday, August 24, 2019. 

Join us for a fun, family-friendly and FREE day with local vendors, live entertainment, exciting races, kid’s activities, health zone and a beer garden. 

This annual event is made possible by the support of our sponsors, volunteers and community teams. Over the past 16 years, the festival has raised over 1.85 million dollars for more than 60 charities including the Barrie Public Library.

Registration is open! Visit http://barriedragonboatfestival.ca to get started. Teams are often looking for individual paddlers to join them, so there is no reason to miss out!

Early Bird Rate: $1000 (January 31 - April 15) *NEW extended date*
Regular Rate: $1200 (April 16 onwards)

• Early Bird registration includes one complimentary practice. 
• All teams are required to raise a minimum $500 pledge towards the charity of their choice. 
• Additional practices can be purchased at the Library for $110 each, which includes a steerperson. Practices typically take place from mid-May to the end of August. 

There are 20 paddlers to each boat, a drummer at the front that sets the rhythm, and a steersperson at the back that steers the boat. Each race takes about 2 and a half minutes from start to finish, and in that short time anything can happen! Four teams race at a time through several heats, and eventually the winner is recognized at an awards ceremony late Saturday afternoon. There are many different award categories like Spirit Award, Fastest Race, Rookie Team of the Year, Best Dressed and the Divisional Awards.

Check out a video from our 2014 Barrie Dragon Boat Festival and see what it's all about!

For more information about the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival please visit the festival's web site at barriedragonboatfestival.ca, call 705-728-1010 ext. 2260 or email dragonboat@barrielibrary.ca.