The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society (CIDBFS) produces the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival each June and operates a number of other dragon boat and paddling events throughout the year.


The Festival was created to show off Vancouver’s growing cultural diversity and to promote racial harmony among Canadians – new and old. Vancouverites were invited to the festival to experience spectacular food, entertainment, arts and children’s programming reflecting Vancouver’s cultural diversity. At the same time, interest in paddling was taking off and more and more teams formed and registered each year.