Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival has capped off its 25th anniversary by donating $382,518.01 to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation for cancer care close to home.
Festival organizing committee volunteers and members of the Survivors Abreast dragon boat team presented the cheque to PRHC Foundation representatives on Tuesday (October 27) at the regional hospital. The celebration was also attended by team captains and paddlers, volunteers, and sponsors, along with hospital representatives.
The total exceeds the festival’s ambitious 2026 fundraising goal of $325,018.01 by $57,500, bringing the event’s total contribution to breast and other cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment at PRHC over the past 25 years to more than $5.3 million.
The milestone anniversary festival took place June 13 on Little Lake at Del Crary Park, with 69 teams and more than 1,340 paddlers participating.
Organizers had deliberately increased the fundraising target by 25 per cent for the festival’s 25th anniversary. The unusually specific fundraising goal of $325,018.01 was also chosen to reflect cancer statistics: two in five Canadians will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and approximately 0.01 per cent of men will receive a breast cancer diagnosis.
“Our story is a story about hope, passion, dedication, community and fun,” said festival chair Michelle Thornton. “But in the beginning, it was just a few hopeful and determined breast cancer survivors and their supporters, trying to raise awareness, have fun, and make a bit of a difference in someone’s life.”
The festival was first launched in June 2001 as Liberty Mutual’s “Day on the Water” before becoming Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival the following year.
Hosted by Survivors Abreast, the event has grown into one of Peterborough’s largest annual community fundraisers. Before this year’s festival, it had already raised more than $4.9 million for cancer care at PRHC, with last year’s festival producing the largest single-year donation in its history at $400,104.01.
“This is a tremendously large fundraiser for a single-day event,” Thornton said of the annual festival. “The fact that people continue every year to support it at this level is a wonderful testament to this community and how much we care about the health of our friends and family.”
Donations to the festival can have a direct impact on patients, Thornton added, by helping doctors detect cancers earlier and provide treatment locally.
“Because of you, and our combined efforts, someone’s cancer will be caught early and receive the best possible outcome,” she said. “Because of you, someone won’t have to travel for their treatments and they won’t incur those additional expenses. Because of you, someone will be able to stay close to their friends and family during one of their most challenging times.”
Attendees at Tuesday’s event included the festival’s top three fundraisers — Patty MacDonald ($14,299), Mary-Jane Pilgrim ($4,585), and Marilyn Shaw ($3,755) — who are all members of the Tastefully Talented Water Warriors, the top fundraising team at $47,877.84.
This year’s donation from the festival will support the PRHC Foundation’s $70-million Campaign for PRHC, the largest fundraising campaign in the hospital and foundation’s history.
Cancer care is one of the campaign’s priorities, with proceeds from the 2026 Dragon Boat Festival helping fund three technologies intended to support earlier diagnosis and safer and more effective treatment: an interventional radiology ultrasound, contrast-enhanced biopsy technology, and an anesthesia machine.
Demand for cancer care at PRHC has increased substantially over the past decade and a half. The hospital recorded more than 23,000 cancer patient visits in 2025, compared with around 5,000 in 2010.
Previous festival donations have helped fund equipment including CT scanners, 3D mammography technology, breast ultrasound and radiologist workstations, and laboratory equipment.
“What an incredible milestone and a wonderful way to celebrate a quarter century of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival,” said PRHC Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway.
“More than $5 million raised for cancer care at our regional hospital is an extraordinary legacy, made possible by a community that cares deeply.”
Heighway thanked Thornton, the festival planning committee, Survivors Abreast, and the thousands of donors, paddlers, volunteers, sponsors, and supporters who have contributed over the event’s history.
“Together, you’re helping make exceptional, compassionate cancer care possible for thousands of patients from across our region, close to home,” she said.
The festival is run entirely by volunteers, including members of Survivors Abreast who organize the event and provide training practices for community teams.
“The festival allows us to fulfill part of our mission statement, and that is to achieve excellence in raising awareness and fundraising for cancer care in our community,” said Survivors Abreast president Janice James.
Sponsorships cover the cost of staging the event, allowing 100 per cent of the pledges raised by paddlers and teams to go to the PRHC Foundation.
Kawartha Financial Services, formerly Kawartha Credit Union, also marked its 25th year as the festival’s presenting platinum sponsor in 2026.
“Cancer touches so many lives across our community, including our employees, members, and their families,” said Kawartha Financial Services president Norah McCarthy. “The generosity and dedication shown by the teams, volunteers, sponsors, and supporters of Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival is truly inspiring.”
With the 25th anniversary now complete, organizers are already thinking about next year’s festival.
The 26th Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival will take place on Saturday, June 12, 2027, with planning to begin over the coming months. Anyone interested in volunteering their time and skills can email festival chair Michelle Thornton at michellethornton.365@gmail.com.
