The presidents of all three Racine Rotary Clubs announced Tuesday that this year’s Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival has been cancelled. The festival was to be held July 15-16, 2011. The Rotary clubs are considering future Dragon Boat festivals.
“It was a difficult decision,” said Rick Granite, chairman of the Dragon Boat Steering Committee. “But, it was one we felt we needed to make as there were fewer teams indicating an interest in participating and difficulties getting corporate sponsorships in these economic times.”

The mission of the festival was to raise funds for the Rotary Clubs’ community projects, to bring this novel sport to Racine’s Lake Michigan lakefront, to provide a unity-building experience for area companies and organizations and to enhance the quality of life in Racine.

The Racine West Rotary Club founded the festival in 2004. The Racine Founders’ Club and Rotary Club of Downtown Racine joined in the effort in 2006. The proceeds from the festival were divided evenly among the three clubs to support charitable community projects.

Another partner in the event, Racine Dragon Boat Club, was instrumental in advising Rotary about the sport and conducting races. Teams and paddlers who would like to participate in events this summer are encouraged to contact the Racine Dragon Boat Club at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for information.

Teams and sponsors who have already paid money to participate in this year’s event will be reimbursed within the next two weeks, Granite said.

While this year’s event has been cancelled, the decision to permanently cancel the event has not yet been made. The clubs will consider hosting the festival in the future, perhaps making it an event that happens less frequently than annually.

The Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival brought dozens of teams to Racine’s lakefront in its seven-year history. The Rotary Clubs deeply appreciate the support of all the corporate and team sponsors, team captains, team members and volunteers without whom this great community event would not have been possible.

During those seven years, The Great Midwest Dragon Boat Festival raised roughly $100,000 for charitable causes in the Racine community.