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Comox Dragon Boat Fest returns Saturday

“This will be a family-friendly festival, with music, food and more.”
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The Hope Afloat team launches from Comox. Record file photo

Everyone is welcomed to join hundreds of athletes and supporters for a full day of food, fun, entertainment and dragon boat racing at the Comox Marina on Saturday, June 11.

The 2022 Comox Dragon Boat Festival will feature mixed and women’s dragon boat teams, composed of 20 paddlers, a steers-person and drummer racing down the 350-metre course.

“This is a perfect dragon-boat venue for spectators,” said Erik Ages, general manager of the Fairway Gorge Paddling Club, a non-profit society producing the festival with the assistance of the Town of Comox, several local sponsors and many Vancouver Island volunteers. “This will be a family-friendly festival, with music, food and more.”

The Comox Dragon Boat Festival will also be paying tribute to Victor Simonson, a veteran coach and one of the founders of dragon boat training and racing in the Courtenay/Comox area.

“Victor has been a force in the Comox dragon boat community for many years, working with many teams on Vancouver Island, including Hope Afloat, a breast-cancer survivor team and others in the Comox area,” Ages said. “We are delighted to honour Victor’s many accomplishments.”

Everyone is also invited to participate in a carnation-tossing ceremony at 12:30 p.m. during which those who have been impacted by cancer will be remembered. Racing begins at 10 a.m. Entertainment begins at 11 a.m.

Onsite entertainment is being provided throughout the day by local MC and musician, David Stevenson. Additional performers include:

Coast to Coast: Featuring Lainie Laughlin, Corey Francis and Scott Lyle.

Anela Kahiamoe: A recording artist with a tropical feel-good vibe.

Ralph Barrat: A versatile pianist/vocalist from the Comox Valley.

Tightrope: Dave Stevenson, Greg Hill, and Lorne Fugle play tribute to electric blues artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZTOP.

There will be food trucks onsite including Surfside Fish’n Chips, Comexi Cantina, Dragon Bowl

Vancouver Island artists will also be at the event, including local artist Jasmine of Dodge City Art and Sharon Lam, an artist based out of Victoria.

Festival goers will also have a chance to shop for paddling gear from Scimitar Sports and FGPC’s Waterfront Outfitters.

“We’d like to acknowledge the support we’ve received from the Town of Comox and our sponsors, including John’s Your Independent Grocer, Black Press Media and The Eagle 97.3 Radio,” Ages said.