On June 21, the Ottawa Summer Dragon Boat Festival 2019 was grandly opened. Chinese Ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye, Deputy Mayor of Ottawa Mathieu Fleury, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport of Ontario Lisa MacLeod, Chairman of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival Committee Craig Stewart and representatives of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) have attended the opening ceremony.

In his speech, Ambassador Lu extended warm congratulations on the opening of the Summer Dragon Boat Festival and briefly introduced the background of the Festival and the origin of the dragon boat culture. He indicated that the Summer Dragon Boat Festival has become one of the most popular festivals in Ottawa, which provided a creative platform for the local people to understand Chinese culture and added luster to the diversified culture of the capital city.

Founded in 1994, the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is the largest of its kind in North America with more than 75,000 participants each year. This year, the Festival was taken part in by over 160 teams, including one specially formed by the diplomats of the Chinese Embassy in Canada.