Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival aims to surpass $5 million in donations this year as it celebrates its 25th year of raising funds for cancer care at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).
Hosted by Survivors Abreast, a paddling team of breast cancer survivors, the festival will see more than 50 teams and over 500 participants take to the water on Little Lake at Del Crary Park in Peterborough on Saturday, June 13.
“It brings together the power of community,” Michelle Thornton, chair for the 2026 festival, told kawarthaNOW.
A quarter century of raising funds for life-saving cancer care close to home
Funds raised by Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival are directed to the PRHC Foundation to support the purchase of medical equipment and technology supporting cancer care at the regional hospital.
“Because the government doesn’t fund hospital equipment and technology, PRHC relies on donations to fund the tools doctors, nurses, and staff need to save and change lives,” said PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway in an statement.
The festival has donated over $4.9 million over the past 24 years to the PRHC Foundation to support cancer care, and aims to take that total to well over $5 million with this year’s goal of $325,018.01.
The last seven digits of that number represent the two in five Canadians who will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, the one in eight women will face a breast cancer diagnosis, and the .01 per cent of men who will also be diagnosed with breast cancer.
The festival’s website states PRHC will uses proceeds from the 2026 event to invest in three technologies that will facilitate earlier cancer diagnosis and safer and more effective treatment: interventional radiology ultrasound, contrast-enhanced biopsy, and an anaesthesia machine.
Rising demand for cancer care is driving need for advanced technologies
The need for such technologies is growing, as PRHC has seen cancer patient visits increase each year, with over 23,000 in 2025 compared to 5,000 visits in 2010. As a regional hub and a centre of excellence in cancer care, PRHC expects the demand for cancer care will only continue to grow.
“The biggest challenge in our region is keeping pace with rising demand,” Heighway said. “At PRHC, cancer patient volumes continue to grow as our population grows and ages, and that puts pressure on access to timely diagnostics and treatment.”
To support increased demand for diagnostic and treatment services, donations to the PRHC Foundation’s $70 million Campaign for PRHC, including funds raised at past festivals, have been invested in two CT scanners, renovations to radiology suites, upgrades to operating rooms, and breast seed localization.
Thornton, who herself is a breast cancer survivor, said that participating in the festival demonstrates the importance of community fundraising events in enabling comprehensive cancer care in the local region.
“I realized that it was the equipment that previous Dragon Boat Festivals had helped fund that helped find my cancer so early,” she said, adding that these investments allow for patients to be “screened, diagnosed, and treated close to home.”
‘Preventative screening and timely diagnostic care are critical to effective cancer treatment’
Providing healthcare close to home is a priority of the PRHC Foundation, as it allows patients to remain near their loved ones and in familiar spaces, avoiding the need to disrupt their lives even more by travelling long distances to receive treatment.
“Through the PRHC Foundation and our generous donors, we help tackle those challenges by funding essential equipment and technology so patients can access high-quality care, close to home, when they need it most,” said Heighway.
For her part, Thornton said that local and accessible screening resources are essential to early detection of cancer.
“People are more apt to get screened if it is close to home,” said Thornton.
Through the Campaign for PRHC, the hospital has already invested in a second MRI to help address waiting times by facilitating up to 5,000 additional procedures each year.
“Preventative screening and timely diagnostic care are critical to effective cancer treatment,” said Heighway. “When cancer is found earlier, patients have more options and potentially better outcomes.”
In recognition of the 25th anniversary of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival, Heighway said the festival has “played a vital role in advancing cancer care for patients” through their fundraising and awareness efforts.
Funds raised through past festivals have also supported investments in laboratory equipment, 3D mammography machines, and breast ultrasound and radiologist workstations.
“Cancer care at PRHC wouldn’t be what it is today without Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival,” said Heighway.
Community spirit and sponsorships fuel festival’s continuing success
Thornton said the support of community members, businesses, and other organizations is essential to the success of the festival, which is led entirely by volunteers including the 24-member planning committee.
“We’re a small but mighty committee that gets a big job done,” Thornton said, adding that there are usually over 100 people who volunteer on race day, with many of those volunteers returning year after year.
To cover the costs associated with the running of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival, partners and sponsors provide financial and in-kind donations to the event. In particular, Thornton noted that Kawartha Financial Services (formerly Kawartha Credit Union) has been the presenting sponsor since the festival was first launched in June 2001 as Liberty Mutual’s “Day on the Water.”
Those sponsorships mean that 100 per cent of the money raised from the festival, including from paddler pledges, are directed to the PRHC Foundation.
This year’s festival runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 13, with dragon boat races taking place throughout the day in four primary divisions: community, junior, open, and breast cancer survivors.
The festival also features activities to entertain participants and their friends and family throughout the day, food vendors, a makers market, a family zone, and a beer garden.
Thornton also said there will be a bus shuttle, sponsored by Hamilton Bus Lines, as well as supervised bike valet parking for those choosing to cycle to the event.
“Come down to watch the event and cheer on your teams,” encouraged Thornton.
Both Heighway and Thornton spoke to the importance of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival in bringing together community members to show their support and solidarity for cancer care close to home.
“Community engagement like this is vital to empowering world-class patient care and strengthening the connection people feel to their hospital,” Heighway said.
For her part, Thornton said that one goal of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival is to “inspire hope for people who are diagnosed and going through treatment.”
For more information about the festival, to register as an individual paddler or as a team, or to donate to the cause, visit ptbodragonboat.ca.
