If you spot a dragon on Jones Lake this weekend, not to worry,  There’s probably a perfectly good explanation for it.

The 15th annual Greater Moncton Dragon Boat Festival is expected to be one of the biggest ever.

Co-Chair Carole Murphy says it’s happening June 2nd and 3rd on Jones Lake, “Friday is the High school challenge and on Saturday, we have the community and corporate teams. We have 35 teams for the High School challenge, that’s the most we’ve ever had and on Saturday we have 24 community and corporate teams. Many of them are new to the Dragon Boat Festival. We have a lot of new people taking part this year which is super exciting.”

Last year the Festival rallied together after being cancelled for a couple of years due to the pandemic.  In 2022, they raised more money than they had ever raised before for the Lions Sick Kids Fund, which is the main charity each year.

Each team will also have a charity of their choice, that will receive 40 percent of the funds raised.

The dragon boats are around 40 feet long and they’re arriving on Friday in Moncton. Murphy says they’ll be putting them into the water and teams will be practicing this weekend.

“If you’re going for a walk or jog around Jones on Saturday or Sunday, you’ll see some teams working with our professionals so they get the hang of paddling together and getting their competitive spirit going so they’re ready to hit the water and race for the causes,” Murphy explains.

If you’d like to donate to a team, visit the Greater Moncton Dragon Boat website. You’ll find a donate now button where you can choose which team you want to support.

Murphy added a big thank you to this year’s main sponsor, which is Ermen Plumbing and Heating, along with everyone else who is taking part and also supporting the cause.