Festival Registration

Register or Join 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:

  • January 30 to April 30- Early Bird Registration
  • May 1 to August 1 - Regular Registration 
  • August 1 - All Team Rosters Finalized*
  • August 14 - Team Captain Meeting  at Barrie Public Library, Downtown Branch - Angus Ross Meeting Room. 6:30pm- 7:30pm. *In Person or Virtual

*Paddlers must have Paddler Registration Form and e-waiver completed no later than August 1 to participate on festival day. 

Early Bird Registration

Registration is open and teams can take advantage of Early Bird savings until April 30. A fun incentive for Early Bird teams this year, generously provided by Tim Hortons, is a contest to win ‘Coffee for a Year’ for their team! All teams who are fully registered during the Early Bird registration window will be entered into a random draw to win Tim Hortons Coffee for their entire team, a value of $800.00 CAD*  

*This value is divided amongst one team participating in the Barrie Dragon Boat Festival, a value of $30.00/paddler to a maximum of 26 paddlers. Winning team will be chosen at random.

Important Documents

Rules and Regulations 

Water Safety Plan

Team Registration Information

The Team Captain is the only team member that needs to register your team, by completing the Team Registration Form.   

 Team Rosters

Your Team Roster is the listing of all team members on your dragon boat team.  (This will automatically populate in the Festival's registration system as team members complete their Paddler Registration Form & Waiver.)

Roster Requirements: 

  • Festival day roster allows for up to 26 team members 
  • Minimum team roster on race day is 16 paddlers, and 1 drummer 
  • Teams registered for the festival must have a minimum8 paddlers identifying as female 
  • Teams may provide own steersperson- Captains please indicate on Team Registration Form  
  • Teams MUST identify one paddler as drummer for festival day 

All paddlers must: 

  • Be 14 years of age or older to participate  
  • Be available festival day: Saturday, August 19th (first race called by 7:15am) 
  • Complete a Paddler Registration Form (including e-waiver)  

*Signature of parent/guardian required if under 18 years old 

Practices

  • Optional Summer Practice season runs June – August *weather permitting 
  • Team Captain decides and communicates how many practices your team will have  
  • For further details, visit Summer Practice Season

Pricing  

Team Captains are responsible for coordinating the collection of funds from paddlers and payment to Library.

Early Bird Pricing (Register and pay team fee between Jan 30 to April 30) 
$1000 registration team fee + $500 charitable donation (to organization of your Team’s choice) 

Regular Season Pricing (Register and pay team fee between May 1 to August 1) 
$1200 registration team fee + $500 charitable donation (to organization of your Team’s choice)  

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

Paddler Registration

Paddler registration requirements:

  • Know the exact name of your team to include on registration form  
  • If you do not have a team, but want to join one that may be looking for extra paddlers, please indicate that on registration form 
  • Paddlers must be 14 years of age or older to participate, under 18 requires a parent or guardian consent.  
  • If you are a Steersperson or Drummer on festival day, please indicate this on the registration form – ask your Captain if you would like to try out drumming during practice season! 
  • Sign your online e-waiver included in the Paddler Registration Form  

Team Captain Checklist

Congratulations on being appointed as Team Captain! The Team Captain will remain as the primary contact between event staff and your team. At any point, please contact us should you have a question or require assistance.

Team Captain Checklist:

  1. Read carefully, the event Rules & Regulations and Water Safety Plan. (You'll want to review this with your team as well)
  2. Review the Team Registration Section above before registering
  3. Fill out Team Registration Form and e-waiver AND complete Payment to Barrie Public Library for your Team Registration Fee
  4. Invite paddlers to complete the Paddler Registration Form and e-waiver (e-waiver must be signed by ALL participants). Be sure they note your exact team name.
  5. Consider adding on Summer Practice Sessions and/or Hiring a Coach to practice before the Festival.
  6. Ensure your Team Roster and corresponding Waivers are complete August 1.
  7. Lead the Fundraising Pledge of $500+ for the Charity of Choice! Be prepared to share your total amount of funds raised upon check-in on event day. (Barrie Public Library does NOT collect funds for other charities, please donate directly to your charity of choice.) 
  8. Attend mandatory Team Captain's Meeting - Date Coming Soon!
  9. Review List of Awards, Challenge Cups & Community Awards 
  10. Review the Schedule of Events to see what is taking place throughout the event!

On Festival Day:

  1. Please check in at Team Registration starting at 6:30am. (Team Captain or Co-Captain ONLY)
  2. Attend Team Captains Meeting with Alkame at 7:00am. (Team Captain or Co-Captain ONLY)
  3. Each team will have one 10x10 space to set-up. Please bring your team tent!

Reach out to the event staff should you have any questions. We're here to help!

Registration Review & Approval Process 

Once your Team Registration Form is submitted online, it will be reviewed by a member of the BDBF event team. Team Captains will be contacted within 72 hours by email (weekends excluded) to be notified whether their team was accepted for the festival. Registration is officially complete once team payment has been received.  

Please be sure that your email address is spelled correctly on the form.

Payment Instructions   

To complete your registration, please arrange with event staff to do so over the phone or in branch. Payment can be made using Credit or Cheque. A member of our event team will confirm this upon acceptance of your registration.    

Cheques can be made payable to: Barrie Public Library. Please indicate "BDBF Registration - YOUR TEAM Name" in the Memo field.

Team Rosters   

Upon payment for your team, you may let your prospective paddlers know that need to complete the Paddler Registration Form and e-waiver.   

Contact Us  

We're here to help! Please email dragonboat@barrielibrary.ca for questions about registration and/or how to get your team started.