Dragons ready paddle in Paradise to highlight battle against breast cancer
35 teams this year, with 2 coming from Ontario and others from Clarenville, central
Dragon boats will be on Octagon Pond Saturday for the annual Paddle in Paradise festival, and organizers are hoping for another record turnout.
The dragon boat races promote the importance of exercise for cancer patients, and raises money and awareness to fight the disease.
Nancy Bennett has been working with the event for the past six years.
"We're starting a little earlier this year. We're awakening the dragon at 7:40 a.m., after our Zumba warmup at 7:30. The first race starts at 8 [a.m.]. We have our official opening ceremonies at 10."
There are four teams made up of breast cancer survivors this year, including a team from central Newfoundland. There are also two teams from Clarenville, and two from outside the province.
"We have 35 teams this year. This is our biggest year," said Bennett.
"This is the first time ever we have a team from Ottawa — Fleet of Foot — and from Toronto, the Aquaholics … They think very highly of themselves judging from their team profile, so we'll see just how good they are."
The festival is free to attend, but teams have been fundraising and the Saturday festival will be selling tickets on a gift basket, and a $1,000 gift card tree.
With files from St. John's Morning Show