‘Numbers are down:’ Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival cancelled
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NANAIMO — This year’s Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival, scheduled for July 11-12, has been cancelled, with organizers citing a lack of paddlers to put on the event.
Organizers say while they had teams registered from the Mainland, Alberta, and even the United States, an increase in similar events being hosted at home have stretched Vancouver Island teams thin.
Operations manager Holly Wylie said changes in other festival dates this year meant racers had to pick their spots, with not enough of the 20-person teams opting to head to Nanaimo for the event in operation since 2003.
“The paddling numbers are down, but it’s teams that are down as well. A lot of teams over the years have folded…and with the way that the economy is and the price of things, people are having to be more mindful of where their dollars are going, and it’s not to recreation.”
