OTTAWA, May 4th, 2018 – The Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival has been named “New Company of the Year” at the 2018 Ottawa Tourism Awards.
The Ottawa Tourism Awards were presented on Thursday May 3rd, 2018 at the Brookstreet Hotel. The awards celebrate the individuals, organizations and events that have set high standards and have demonstrated outstanding achievement, contributing to the growth and development of tourism in Ottawa and Canada’s Capital Region.
The inaugural edition of the Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival took place February 17th and 18th, 2017 and was the first of its kind in North America. A sell out registration of 60 teams, which took place in 10 minutes, made the festival the largest ice dragon boat competition in the world. Taking place on the historic Rideau Canal Skateway, competitors thrilled visitors to the National Capital Region and Winterlude by racing along the frozen surface of the World’s Largest Skating Rink and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Boats were equipped with skate-like blades and participants propelled themselves along the 200-meter race course using spiked ice-picks, much to the delight of record crowds of 25,000.
The Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival was prominently featured by local, national, and international media outlets. The Festival received impressive national coverage on both the Feb. 28th edition of the Rick Mercer Report as well as the March 1st edition of Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet. Internationally China Central Television (CCTV) which is the predominant state television broadcaster in the People’s Republic of China aired a Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival segment numerous times.
In addition to hosting the world’s largest ice dragon boat race, the festival is a world class event that offers free concerts, family fun, all aged activities, traditional Aboriginal dancers and Chinese lion dancers and many more festivities that celebrate the strong ties between Canada’s capital, and its sister city, China’s capital city, Beijing.
“We are honoured to be recognized by the Ottawa Tourism Awards as the New Company of the Year and would like to take this opportunity to thank the many organizations and individuals who have joined us on this journey and supported us each step of the way. We were the very first Ice Dragon Boat event in North America. We are the largest Ice Dragon Boat event in the world. Without those who believed in us none of this would have ever happened.” said John Brooman, CEO of the Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival.
This award is especially exciting for the Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival team as they prepare for the third edition of the festival taking place February 8th & 9th 2019.
For more information about the Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival, please visit: icedragonboat.ca
