The Jersey Dragon Boat Festival 2024

Join The Jersey Dragon Boat Festival, proudly sponsored by VG, to see if you can be crowned the 2024 champion.

Image of two dragon boats racing

The Jersey Dragon Boat Festival 2024


Date of Event: 14 Sep 2024


The Jersey Dragon Boat Festival is a fantastic event for groups of friends and colleagues, where you can expect to enjoy a fun day out with a great carnival atmosphere, fun, laughter, and friendly competition. No experience needed – just loads of enthusiasm!

Your team will take charge of a 40ft canoe-like dragon boat, ornately carved with a dragon’s head and tail, paddling hard to clock the best time for each heat while attempting to become a finalist. All focus is on the drummer, keeping all paddlers in time, while they paddle with all their might to cross the finish line!

What to wear

We suggest that the crew wear light clothing, which will dry quickly. Bring a towel and warm clothes to cover up as you will get wet! No heavy jeans, flip-flops or boots. Trainers are recommended. Many teams like to wear fancy dress.

Buoyancy aids are required and will be provided – please make sure they fit over your fancy dress outfit.

Staying Safe

We hope this event will be great fun but we need to remember health and safety requirements.

A professional dragon boat company manages the event. They will provide you with buoyancy aids, a professional helm, and a full safety briefing. Please listen to and follow their instructions at all times.

In the interests of safety, a minimum age of 12 years and the ability to swim 50 metres is set for our competitors.

Whilst the organisers will not unreasonably restrict crew members from drinking in moderation, Dragon Boat Events Limited reserves the right to disqualify a single crew member or even a whole team from the competition if, in the opinion of the chief marshal, they are unfit to paddle. In such cases, there will be absolutely no refund of entry fees.

We ask teams not to bring alcohol or bottles into the arena. You may pre-order team drinks with food as part of registration. These will be delivered to the team in the morning.

Please note that BBQs are not permitted inside the arena by order of the Harbour Master. Refreshments may be bought from the various food and drink stalls which will be there on the day.

What to expect on the day

Dragon Boat racing isn’t just a sport – it’s a carnival dating back to the 5th or 6th century, draped in history, tradition, and competition.

Participating crews will enjoy a full day’s entertainment, including:

  • Food and drink stalls
  • Race commentary
  • Souvenir programme
  • Dragon boats and all related racing equipment
  • A minimum of three races per crew


The first race is on at around 10:00, with the grand final scheduled for 16:00.

At the end of the day, prizes will be awarded to the fastest team and two runners up as well as spot prizes selected by the sponsor, VG.

All teams will be based on the balcony area of Albert Pier and have been allocated a space of 4 x 3 metres. You are welcome to bring along a gazebo fitting the space if you wish.

The teams who have raised the most money for Jersey Hospice Care will be given a much sought after VIP location in the arena with perfect views of the races.

Fundraising

All teams taking part pledge to raise a minimum of £500 for Jersey Hospice Care.

We are able to provide you with support and advice in the months leading up to the event and encourage you to set up your own fundraising page after registering on Just Giving. You can personalise the page with your own team photo and text.