This year marks the fourth annual National Paddling Week, a Canada-wide celebration of recreational paddling sport, and heritage. NPW aims to boost awareness of paddling activities taking place across the country, while also educating participants about safe paddling practices.
This nine day, celebration of all things paddle, canoe, kayak, or stand up paddle board is the brain child of NPW founder Scott McGregor and is supported by a long term partnership between Rapid Media, Paddle Canada, PaddleSmart and the youth prize sponsor: Canadian Canoe Foundation.
NPW goes from June 10 to 19, 2016 and will be celebrated by community organizations and clubs across Canada, from Peggy’s Cove to Vancouver Island. The year round, online events calendar highlights activities in each province, like a kayak-based gourmet food tour in the Gulf Islands, a surfboard workshop in Pemberton, and sea kayaking at the Paddlepalooza Festival in Perry Sound.
This year the festival has teamed up with PaddleSmart water safety training and will be emphasizing safety education. Along with the more adventures events aimed at skilled paddlers, there will also be introductory classes for people who are trying paddle-based activities for the first time, as well as first aid and safety measures training.
Participants are welcome to post their own photos, videos and updates from their NPW events (www.facebook.com/NationalPaddlingWeekCanada).
*All people in a boat must be wearing pfds or life jackets for the photo or video to be posted.
Tweet your adventures: tag #NPW.
To find out about NPW events in your area check out paddleweek.ca or tweet at @paddlingweek.