There’s at least one person who’s smiling when seeing the predicted ice-cold temperatures in the forecast.

Dragon Boat Festival CEO John Brooman, is praying for -8 C with some sun for Feb. 17 and 18 as the boats will take to the ice for the first time in North America during the two-day Winterlude event at Dow’s Lake.

Before taking some time to chat about this first-ever event, he was checking the 14-day forecast.

“I’m happy to see the cold. For the first time in a Canadian winter, I’m looking for as much cold as possible.”

The first time the boats will touch the ice in North America will be for a practice session on Feb. 17 around noon.

“Participants are going to get in them and take them for a test drive,” Brooman said.

Sixty teams from around the world are registered for the event. There are teams coming from China, Texas, California, Europe, as well as the Raging Dragons of Chatham Kent.
There are even some on the wait-list from Africa and Australia. The event sold out in eight minutes.

“It’s the international exposure this is getting. In no way did we ever expect this kind of reaction. We got lucky,” Brooman said.

The official event gets started Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. with a traditional eye dotting ceremony. Brooman said the custom dates back 2,400 years. During the ceremony they dot the eye of the dragon to awaken it before the competition.

The races will follow, running until about 5 p.m.

Spectators can watch from ice level, depending on the crowds and are encouraged to take transit or carpool if they want to see some races.

The boats are equipped with a sled with two sets of skate blades, as well as braking and steering devices. Paddlers use ice sticks with seven picks to propel the boats forward.

Getting the festival to Ottawa has been almost a year in the making and started when Brooman got a call from China, inviting him to the ice dragon boat races in Budapest in 48 hours. Five hours later a plane ticket popped up in his inbox, starting a crazy trip to Budapest.

“Then it was about coming back and unpeeling the onion to figure out how it might best fit into Ottawa,” he said. And having the event on the Rideau Canal was the obvious answer.

In the meantime, he’s been working with Canadian Heritage, the National Capital Commission and the Chinese embassy to get the event this far.

It’s included the receipt of a shipping container from China filled with boats and traditional decor — about 5,000 pounds of it, Brooman said.

“The eagle has landed … you can literally track it across the ocean,” he said, adding when it arrived in Prince Rupert, it made its way to Montreal by rail. It was held up in customs for about two to three weeks and when it was released, Brooman released a sigh of relief.

It hasn’t been an easy process. Brooman describes the festival as a “risky venture” being put on with a shoestring budget of less than $50,000.

But it will all be worth it when those boats take the ice.

“That moment where we start a race and we actually have ice and it works, that will be the moment for me. It will be very emotional because it’s been a whirlwind,” he said

By Ottawa West News – By Melissa Murray