The International Canoe Federation is excited to celebrate this year’s Dragon Boat Festival with the people of Yichang.
The Chinese city located in the province of Hubai will hold the ICF Dragon Boat World Cup in October.
Yesterday saw the Host Organising Committee stage a large festival in Yichang gathering 35,000 spectators.
The festival kicked off with vibrant celebrations, including traditional performances and was highlighted by Dragon Boat race.
Yichang, the hometown of the famous poet Qu Yuan, is believed to be the birthplace of Dragon Boat.
Tracing back over 2,000 years ago, the Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday and starts on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
This year, the festival took place on June 10 and saw races held in cities across China and beyond.
Excitement continues to build in Yichang ahead of the staging of the 2024 ICF Dragon Boat World Cup from October 23 to 27.
The event will serve as one of two qualifying events for the 2025 World Games Chengdu, China.
(photo credit: Jiashu)
It will be followed by the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships in Puerto Princesa, the Philippines where races will run from October 31 to November 3.
The World Cup had been originally scheduled for April but has been moved to late October to enable athletes to go straight to the World Championships after competing in Yichang.
Dragon Boat is one of the ICF’s 10 disciplines, with the federation organising World Cups and World Championships every year.
BYD, the world’s leading electric car manufacturer, has become the ICF’s Dragon Boat Global Strategic Partner.
The company is supplying three dragon boats that will be used during the intervals of the Canoe Sprint finals as part of the sports presentation from August 8 and 10.
It will be the second successive Games where Dragon Boat has been exhibited after featuring in Tokyo.
Related links
