Festival Registration

Register a Team  

Working together to paddle takes a great deal of collaboration with fellow teammates, making dragon boating a great team-building activity. It is no wonder that the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival attracts so many workplaces, charities, as well as groups of friends, year after year!  

We look forward to welcoming back new and returning teams. Teams are often looking for individual paddlers to join them, so there is no reason to miss out. We will work to have you matched with a team seeking additional paddlers! 

Important Deadlines 

Registration for the Festival is as follows:

April 1, 2025 - Team Registration Opens

August 8, 2025 - Last chance to submit participant Waivers to complete Team Roster

August 11, 2025 - Team Captain Meeting with Race Officials & Event Organizers *one representative from each team is required. This will take place from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the Barrie Public Library, Downtown Branch. Please connect with event staff if you require virtual access.

Early Bird Registration

A fun incentive for Early Bird teams this year, generously provided by Tim Hortons, is a contest to win “The Ultimate Tim Hortons Coffee Break"!  All teams who have their initial team registration submitted and team fee payment complete between the dates of April 1, 2025 to April 30, 2025 will be entered into a random draw to win The Ultimate Tim Hortons Coffee Break for their entire team!*

*This prize is divided amongst one team participating in the 2025 Barrie Dragon Boat Festival, a value of $25.00/paddler to a maximum of 26 paddlers. Winning team will be chosen at random and announced early May 2025.

***Congratulations to team "Paddle Pirates" from CFB Borden - winners of the Ultimate Tim Hortons Coffee Break!***

Important Documents

2025 Rules & Regulations

2025 Water Safety Plan

Team Registration Information

Step 1: Registration & Team Fee Payment:

Complete your Team Registration Form:

Click here to register your team.

Payment of team fee is required to secure your team's spot. A member of our event team will confirm this upon acceptance of your registration. To complete your registration, please arrange with event staff your preferred method of payment - E-Transfer, Cheque or Credit.

  • E-Transfer Event Staff will provide direction 
  • Credit Card Payment: Call 705-728-1010 ext. 2212; please mention your team name upon payment. 
  • Cheque Payment: Cheques can be made payable to Barrie Public Library. Please include 'BDBF Registration - TEAM NAME' in the memo field.

    Mail cheque to: 
    Barrie Public Library
    c/o Dragon Boat Festival
    60 Worsley Street
    Barrie, ON L4M 1L6

Registration Fee:

*New for 2025!* Teams have the option to choose their payment preference! 

Option A - Team fee of $1,000.00 plus donate an item (min. value of $100) for the Dragon Tales Silent Auction*. Auction item is due to the Library before June 30, 2025. Proceeds raised from the Dragon Tales Silent Auction benefit the advancement of public library services in our community. 

OR

Option B - Team fee of $1,150.00

Each team participating in the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival is required to fundraise a minimum of $500 for their charity of choice. Please indicate which organization is your team raising funds for upon registering your team. 


Step 2: Share e-Waiver link with teammates & Build Your Team Roster

New for 2025! - Upon full registration of each team, event organizers will share a customized link with each Team Captain that can be sent to their participants to complete their waiver online. The link is unique to each team.

The Team Roster will auto-populate as the waivers are completed by their participants. The Team Captain will have access to view in real time the status of their roster as waivers are completed. It is the Team Captain's responsibility to ensure all participants have completed their waiver and are visible on the roster before the submission deadline. Access to this link with expire after the deadline.  ALL participants entering the dragon boat require waivers, including the paddlers, drummer and steersperson on your team. 

Roster Requirements: 

  • Festival day roster allows for up to 30 crew members , for a total race compliment of 20 paddlers and 1 drummer in the race boat for each race.
  • Minimum team roster on race day is 16 paddlers, and 1 drummer should the total race compliment not be met.
  • All mixed teams registered for the festival must have a minimum of 10 paddlers identifying as female, plus a minimum of 1 paddler(s) who identify as male. 
  • Teams may provide own steersperson, however if event officials deem the steersperson to be unsuitable for the event, a steersperson will be provided for your team.
  • Teams MUST identify one paddler as drummer for festival day. 

All participants must: 

  • Be 14 years of age or older to participate  
  • Be available festival day: Saturday, August 16th (first race called by 7:00am) 
  • Be listed on the Team Roster with a completed waiver
  • *Signature of parent/guardian required if under 18 years old 

Step 3: Fundraise for Charity of Choice!

All teams participating in the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival must pledge to fundraise a minimum of $500 for the charity of their choice, in addition to paying a registration team fee. The total amount of funds raised by the team need to be reported to event staff upon check-in on event day.


Step 4: Arrange Summer Practice Sessions *Optional:

Optional Summer Practice season runs June – August *weather permitting. The Team Captain decides and communicates if and how many practices your team will have. Additional costs do apply. Please visit Summer Practice Season for more information.


Step 5: Prepare for Event Day!

One representative from the team (Team Captain or Co-Captain) is required to attend the Team Captain's Meeting which takes place in advance of the Festival.  At this meeting, event officials will review the expectations for the day, discuss race format, clarify on water commands as well as an opportunity to ask questions.  

Please take time to review the list of Awards, Challenge Cups & Community Awards as well as the Schedule of Events to see what is taking place throughout the event!

On Event Day, the Team Captain is responsible for checking in at the Registration Desk beginning at 6:30am.

Each team will have one 10x10 space to set-up. This is not provided, please arrange for your team tent!

This event does not have food vendors onsite. Please ensure your team plans accordingly to pack what they need for the day, including a refillable water bottle that can be used at our water refill station.


Have questions?

If you have any questions about the registration process or registering a team, please feel free to contact us at: dragonboat@barrielibrary.ca.

2025 Teams Participating

Please join us in welcoming the following teams participating in the 2025 Festival:

  1. Dragon Tales (Barrie Public Library)
  2. Barrie’s Ribbons of Hope (Breast Cancer Survivors)
  3. Bartimaeus SurviveOars (Bartimaeus Inc.)
  4. Dragonets (Group of Friends)
  5. Candlelighters Courageous Cancer Kids (Candlelighters Simcoe Parents of Children with Cancer)
  6. Hospice Hurricanes (Hospice Simcoe)
  7. Paddle Pirates (CFB Borden)
  8. Morning Jo Marauders (Morning Jo Gourmet Coffee Services)
  9. Collingwood Sidelaunchers (Group of Friends)
  10. Survivors Abreast Peterborough (Survivors Abreast Peterborough)
  11. Honda - Team 1 (Honda of Canada Mfg.)
  12. Honda - Team 2 (Honda of Canada Mfg.)
  13. Team Amica (Amica Senior Lifestyles)
  14. Endurance (CFB Borden)
  15. Chicks Ahoy (Group of Friends)
  16. Redwood Builds (Redwood Park Communities)
  17. Blue Lightning (Barrie Police Service)
  18. Powell Jones' Paddlers (Powell Jones LLP)
  19. Simcoe Sizzlers (County of Simcoe)
  20. Doane with the Wind (Doane Grant Thornton LLP)
  21. SOB (Group of Friends)
  22. TWSS - THATS WHAT SHE SAID (Dragon Boat Barrie)
  23. PADDLE STRONG (Dragon Boat Barrie)
  24. PADDLE AVENGERS (Dragon Boat Barrie)
  25. Barrie Ultimate (Barrie Ultimate Frisbee League)
  26. S.C.C.A  (Simcoe County Chinese Association)
  27. Nexum Bowheads (Longevity Nexum)
  28. Dragon's Heartbeat (Group of Friends)
  29. CFHSTC/31 (CFB Borden)
  30. York Torque (York Region Municipality)
  31. Raging Dragons of Chatham Kent (Group of Friends)
  32. Barrie Dragon Warriors (The City of Barrie)
  33. SPS - Speed Dragons (Simcoe Parts Service)
  34. Team Murphy (Ferndale Trim & Doors)
  35. The Orange Wave (Orange Theory Fitness)
  36. Hatching a Dragon (HATCH)
  37. Catulpa Conquistador's (Catulpa Community Support Services)
  38. The UPlifters (Uplift Black)
  39. New Path United Dragons (New Path Youth and Family Services)
  40. CFB Borden (CF Borden)

 

Barrie Public Library would like to thank the teams who participated in our 2024 Festival:

  1. Candlelighters Courageous Cancer Kids (Candlelighters Simcoe Parents of Children with Cancer)
  2. Hospice Hurricanes (Hospice Simcoe)
  3. Barrie Ultimate (Sports Team/ Group of Friends)
  4. Dragon Tales (Barrie Public Library)
  5. Simcoe Sizzlers (County of Simcoe)
  6. Bartimaeus Survivors (Bartimaeus)
  7. Barrie's Ribbons of Hope (Breast Cancer Survivor Group)
  8. PaddleAvengers (Dragon Boat Barrie)
  9. PaddleStrong (Dragon Boat Barrie)
  10. That's What She Said (Dragon Boat Barrie)
  11. Haliburton Highlands Paddlers (Group of Friends)
  12. RTX Elcan (Workplace/Group of Friends)
  13. Blue Lightning (Barrie Police Service)
  14. Morning Jo Marauders (Group of Friends)
  15. Dragonets (Group of Friends)
  16. Redwood Park Communities (Workplace/Group of Friends)
  17. Collingwood Sidelaunchers Huronic (Sports Team/ Group of Friends)
  18. SOB Dragons (Sports Team/Group of Friends)
  19. Hatching A Dragon (HATCH Workplace Team)
  20. Powell Jones' Paddlers (Powell Jones LLP)
  21. Honda - Team 1 (Honda of Canada Mfg.)
  22. Honda - Team 2 (Honda of Canada Mfg.)
  23. Honda - Team BRG (Honda of Canada Mfg.)
  24. Loose Cannons (Group of Friends)
  25. The Moore Dragonslayers (Moore Packaging Corp.)
  26. Sizzlers Team (County of Simcoe)
  27. Wild River rangers (CFB Borden)
  28. RCEME RED DRAGONS (CFB Borden)
  29. Chicks Ahoy (Sports Team/Group of Friends)
  30. Lightning Sharks (CFB Borden)
  31. RCSU Sea Serpents (CFB Borden)
  32. Paddle Pirates (CFB Borden)
  33. Catulpa (Catulpa Community Support Services)
  34. Barrie Dragon Warriors (City of Barrie)
  35. York Torque (The Regional Municipality of York)
  36. Grant Thornton LLP