The second annual Sechelt Paddling Festival took place at the Sechelt Sustainable Community (SSC) property in East Porpoise Bay this past Sunday. The event was a huge success with more than 1,500 people participating in a wide range of festivities.
The festival was introduced last year when Fred Stark, a strong advocate for paddling on the Sunshine Coast, approached SSC Properties with the idea of having a paddling festival on their site. Following the very successful inaugural event, this year’s festival grew by more than 50 per cent.
This year also marked the grand opening of a temporary Sunshine Coast Paddlers Club Compound, a place where the paddling club members can store their canoes and gear with easy access to the water, so they can enjoy paddling more often. If all goes well, the Paddling Centre will become a permanent part of the Sechelt Sustainable Community.
“We are extremely happy to support and be a part of the growth of paddling on the Sunshine Coast. We are very fortunate to have people, like Fred, and groups like the Sunshine Coast paddling clubs so actively involved,” said Werner Hofstatter, the general manager of the Sechelt Sustainable Community.
The day began with a traditional welcome ashore ceremony, conducted by members of the shíshálh Nation, for the arriving flotilla of traditional canoes, an outrigger and a dragon boat.
Once the official ceremony was completed, the festival swung into full action. The public had the opportunity to try out a wide-range of paddling activities including canoeing, dragon boating, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding. The festival also had a competitive stand-up paddle board race and a demonstration of the “Onit Ability Board” – a paddle board designed to accommodate a wheelchair. Another highlight was the annual Dog Dock Diving competition. This year’s winner was Rusty the Golden Doodle with a distance of 16 feet.
The day was rounded out with great food and great music by groups Bad to the Bow, shíshálh singers and drummers, Poppa Greg and the Chillin Dylans, and Katie and the Cornpones.
The Sechelt Paddling Festival has already started to draw a lot of on-Coast and off-Coast attention and it will be exciting to see what the third annual Sechelt Paddling Festival will bring next year.
