May 15, 2020

Dragon Boat BC announces today that the 10th anniversary of the Steveston Dragon Boat Festival is cancelled for 2020.

“Our staff are deeply saddened by the Steveston Dragon Boat Festival’s cancellation, as it was celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and had always been a highly anticipated end-of-summer celebration for our community,” says Alexis Gall, General Manager, Dragon Boat BC. “Nevertheless, in line with BC’s Restart Plan and our core principals, we recognize our duty to put the health and safety of the community and our racers first.” 

The Festival welcomes over 2,000 racers a year to historic Steveston Village and Imperial Landing Park in Richmond, and has been a mainstay of the Imperial Landing community since the area was built. These racers come from across British Columbia and Washington state to mark the region’s last dragon boat race of the season.

At this time, the Festival has implemented the same refund and transfer policy as all other Dragon Boat BC races. Registered teams may request a full transfer of their registration fees from 2020 to a future year until the end of 2020, or may request a refund of 75% of their registration fee until June 1, 2020. Like many other event organizers, the event incurs significant costs in the months leading up to the Festival. Instructions on next steps will be emailed out to team captains, managers, and administrators. A FAQ to assist racers is linked here.

The Festival recognizes and thanks the first responders and essential workers who have served the community and helped protect our community against the brunt of COVID-19. The Festival notes the importance of continuing the fight against COVID-19 as British Columbia begins to reopen. For links to information on mitigating the risk of spreading COVID-19, emergency government funding measures, and ways to contribute to the fight against COVID-19, please visit dragonboatbc.ca/covid19. 

2020 COVID-19 Race Refunds and Transfers FAQ

Q: What are my options as a result of race cancellations this year?

A: We are offering a free transfer to 2021 for all race registrations, or you may request a refund until June 1, 2020 of 75% of your paid race registration fee.

• If you wish to transfer to 2021, you are not required to do anything.
• If you wish to request a refund, please review and follow the steps emailed to your team’s captain, manager, or administrator.
• If you had previously requested a race transfer, you will get an email informing you that your credit has been automatically increased to 100% of your paid race registration fee. 
• If you had previously requested a refund, you will have the opportunity to switch to a credit if your team emails us requesting one by June 1, 2020. If we do not hear from you by then, we will continue to keep your refund request in the queue.
• There will be no option to switch between a refund and transfer after June 1, 2020. If you do not request a refund by June 1, 2020, we will automatically provide a transfer to 2021.

For teams or individuals able or interested in doing so, we also always encourage donations to the Milton K. Wong Legacy Project (Fei and Milton Wong Family Foundation) which supports our accessibility and youth programs. Individuals donating to the Foundation may be eligible to receive a tax receipt. Especially during these times, the demand for safe places and programming for youth to go to is even more important. Please email us at [email protected] for more information or for assistance in coordinating your donation.

Q: Why are you refunding 75% of the race registration fee?

A: We understand the stresses you might be experiencing in your lives as a result of COVID-19. We have tried to strike a balance between providing as much as possible to teams that absolutely need a refund, and ensuring the event’s viability.

In the months leading up to the race season, significant planning and preparation happens, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of costs are incurred due to things like staffing, supplies, and general operating costs. In addition, like other small businesses or non-profit organizations, we also have experienced significant drops in expected revenues. 

While we will continue to look for ways to help our teams, we are unfortunately only able to commit to a 75% refund at this time. We continue to discuss with our suppliers different options moving forward. If the possibility arises later on for us to do more, we will do so.

We highly encourage teams that are able to do so to transfer their race registrations to 2021 to support the ongoing viability of the events we run. As a non-profit organization, we invest our proceeds back into the paddling community through our accessibility and youth initiatives, with hundreds of thousands of dollars invested over the years through upgrades, subsidies, and grants to grow the sport. We hope that if teams and individuals are able to, they choose to transfer their registrations to next year to help support us during these times.

Q: There are different refund/transfer policies out there. Why are you offering this one in particular?

We have created this refund/transfer policy taking into account our organization’s unique situation and circumstances. We have done our utmost to act in good faith, and by offering full transfers and high value refunds, are expecting to incur additional losses above and beyond the losses we had originally projected as a result of disruptions to our plans for this year. 

We recognize that every organization has a different refund policy, and respect the different situations that events and organizations find themselves in. It is inappropriate for us to comment on what other organizations are doing, other than that we believe that most organizations are also acting in good faith and doing their utmost with the best interests of everyone in mind.

Q: What are your plans for 2021?

A: We have submitted dates in the May-June and August-September time frames to public officials to consider for 2021. The time frames are currently under review, and we will be informed of specific dates that may be available. With our 2021 events potentially up to 16 months away, it is difficult to forecast how we will specifically address issues that could arise, but these general principles will guide our planning.

We recognize the possibility that later dates may interfere with other events or qualifying standards, and will work to mitigate any potential impact as we receive such information. 

In the event that some COVID-19 restrictions are still in place, we would look to reasonably address these issues with an ultimate goal of delivering a high-quality and safe event. It is reasonable to assume that future plans would be similar to the ones we’ve implemented this year, if variables and the situation is similar. However, we also recognize that some things will simply be out of our control, and will look to follow best practices advised at that time.

Regardless of the situation, enhanced sanitation will be part of all of our events and operations moving forward, including regular disinfection of high-touch areas and increased hand wash or sanitation areas.

Q: Are there ways to help?

A: COVID-19 has devastated all event organizers and many non-profit organizations. We welcome assistance from individuals, organizations, or companies looking to support our work that seeks to build cultural bridges, and bring together the community. Please contact us at [email protected] to discuss your idea.