2026 Festivals
Spirit Warriors - We are currently in the planning stage of which dragon boat festivals the team will be attending this season. Please see the notification from our Festival Coordinator, Shari, on the SPOND app and sign-up for the festivals you can commit to participating in.
Our 2025 Festival Season
Shuswap Dragon Boat Festival
We attended the festival on Saturday June 14, 2025 in Salmon Arm. It was a great first festival for both the new and experienced paddlers alike. The lake was calm and the weather pleasant. The Spirit Warriors placed second in the C division.
Kamloops Dragon Boat Festival
Saturday August 9th, 2025 was a perfect day for racing on the South Thompson River! There was such a festive feel as twenty teams enjoyed beautiful weather and calm waters throughout the day. We loved hearing the crowds on the beach cheering us on.
Penticton Dragon Boat Festival
Penticton Dragon Boat Festival
The largest local festival that we attended in 2025 took place from Friday September 5th to Sunday September 7th. Smoky skies throughout the weekend required the races to be shortened to 250 metre sprints; however, it was as an enjoyable time always. We rocked the Survivorship Party on Friday night with our 80s themed “Girls Just Want to Have Fun“ costumes.
The Flower Ceremony
As a breast cancer survivor only team, every dragon boat festival that the Spirit Warriors participate in must have a Flower Ceremony. This heartfelt tradition began in 1997 with a Vancouver breast cancer team tossing pink carnations into the water after their final race in order to honour a teammate who was facing a recurrence of the disease. The tradition quickly spread to other dragon boat festivals across North America and then worldwide.
During the Flower Ceremony, breast cancer survivors and those affected by the disease come together to celebrate and offer hope to survivors, and to honour and remember those who are no longer with us. The ceremony takes place after the final breast cancer survivor race and consists of a short speech from a survivor, touching music accompanied by the waving of pink flowers, and finally the throwing of the flowers into the water either from the boats or from the shore.
