Calgary 
Dragon boat racing on the frozen lake is debuting next month at Sylvan Lake.
Credit: Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival
While ice dragon boat races have been taking place in the country for quite some time, and ice canoeing is part of Canada’s heritage, it is for the first time, such a race is being held in Western Canada.
Ice dragon boat race is a dragon-boat race that takes place over a frozen lake or river, where racing teams propel dragon boats fitted with a lightweight frame that houses skate-like blades along a designated race course using spiked oars.
Sylvan Lake Ice Dragon Boat Festival takes place from February 10th to 12th. Practices occur on Friday afternoon, followed by the first 200m race on Saturday.
The festival is free to watch.
If you want to compete in the event, you can join as an individual or a team of 8 to 10 paddlers in addition to a steersperson and drummer and register online by February 3rd. You can either form an all-women team or a mixed team. The all-women team should have all-women paddlers (except steersperson and drummer) while a mixed team should only have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 male paddlers (except steersperson and drummer).
Sylvan Lake Ice Dragon Boat Festival is part of the winter festivities at Sylvan Lake. The weekend after the dragon boat festival will see the lake playing host to catch-and-release ice fishing tournament Big Jig Ice Fishing Derby and Winterfest featuring a snow maze, kids zone, fireworks, an epic poutine contest, and so much more.
