2025 Dragon Boat Festival
- Riverside Park
100 Lorne St, Kamloops, BC - Presented by Kamloops Dragon Boat Festival Society
- 8:30am - 3:00pm
- FREE to watch. Registration fees vary.
- Visit event website
The annual 2025 Kamloops Dragon Boat Festival will be held at the beach in Riverside Park's, towards the east side of the park, on Saturday, August 9 from 8:30 am - 3:00 pm (approximately).
Dragon Boat teams from Kamloops, and all over BC and Canada will compete in 500 metre races on the Thompson River. Teams from Kelowna, Langley, Penticton, Vernon, Salmon Arm, Fort Langley, Sicamous, Port Moody, and Chilliwack will be there, to name a few. Plus these teams will compete in the Guts & Glory race of 1,500 metres.
With exciting music, fast paced races and an array of teams competing, the festival is fun to watch while you eat your ribs from Ribfest, which is held on the west side of the park. The Kamloops Dragon Boat Festival Society and the Kamloops Sport Council are co-sponsors of this exciting event. Paddles Up!
Breast Cancer Survivor Teams
At 10:30am, there will be a ceremony to recognize all survivors of breast cancer, their families and loved ones, and those that did not survive the fight. Spectators are invited to watch the ceremony, which lasts about 20 minutes. Kamloops' team is the 'Spirit Warriors'
All cancer boats gather together, in the water, and park at the beach. About 100 carnations (this year donated by North Shore Safeway) are distributed to breast cancer team members, their loved ones, and spectators. Upon the end of a special song, the carnations are thrown into the water, symbolically saying goodbye to those we lost to cancer and sending good wishes to those still battling.