The Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival began as a grassroots, community supported event in 2003, focused on raising funds for imaging equipment to assist in the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer at our local hospital.
Completely volunteer organized, the Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival Society donates 100% of the net proceeds to the Nanaimo Hospital Foundation. Since 2003, more than $400,000 has been raised to purchase diagnostic equipment at NRGH.
With our beautiful waterfront venue, our Festival attracts more than 2,500 paddlers and has grown to become Nanaimo’s largest annual festival, bringing more than $1.3 million to our community.