Dragon boats at the World Championships in Ruse

Ruse is set to host the World Dragon Boat Championships ahead of 2025, according to a decision by the International Canoe Federation. The exact dates will be confirmed at a later stage. This will be the first time our country has hosted such an event, which has been gaining increasing popularity in Europe in recent years.

The races will take place on the lake in Lipnik Forest Park, and over 3,000 competitors and guests are expected in the city on the Danube.
The history of dragon boats originates in China. They seat 10 or 20 people. They are decorated with a dragon’s head at the front and a tail at the rear. They are painted in bright colours, mainly red, symbolising happiness and success. The drummer also plays an important role in each boat, setting the rhythm for the rowing strokes. As in other disciplines, there are separate distances here too – 200 m, 500 m and 2,000 m.

However, unlike other sports where competitors are professionals, in dragon boat racing most are amateurs. And the crews are often formed just before the championships themselves. Yet the competition is extremely exciting and captures the attention of millions of spectators.

Although this will be the first time our country has hosted such an event, Bulgarians have previously taken part in dragon boat races on three occasions – in the Mecca of the sport: Shanghai. In 2015 and 2017, our crews came first, beating the strong teams from the hosts and Thailand. And in 2016, they came second.