If you choose 5 festivals to go to in Western Canada (Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario) which ones would your crew opt for? I am planning our festival roster for 2006 and am looking for the following feedback:

- Course fairness
- Organizational efficiency
- Boat types (NO SRS please)
- Course depth
- Good judges and adherence to rules
- No record of changing rules mid-festival (like MIDBRF)
- Extracurricular activities (Taiko drumming, food stands, clothing, martail arts demos, stuff for kids to do, family friendly) Like MIDBRF.
- How competitive are they (do Gorging or Pacific Reach go?)
- Price
- Apres-festival partying
- Hardware (medals, etc.)

Thanks to all in advance.

you may want to put provinces that are actually on the west coast, not the east

1) Alcan - by far the most difficult w/ the highest level of competiton from all over .2 different styles of boats which can play havoc on out of town teams (ask jetstart)good harware

2) Kelowna - Again good competitive field ,not as deep as Alcan but still some tough competiton ,good hardware

3) Calgary - excellent course, competitive field is ok ,good beer gardens ,nice hardware

4) Victoria - good field ,course sucks - unfair lanes ,poor starts too much ferry traffic as race constantly held up

5)Richmond - strong currents ,field is so-so ,good hardware,bad finish line timing but I'm sure that will be fixed for next yr

1) Alcan - by far the most difficult w/ the highest level of competiton from all over .2 different styles of boats which can play havoc on out of town teams (ask jetstart)good harware

2) Kelowna - Again good competitive field ,not as deep as Alcan but still some tough competiton ,good hardware

3) Calgary - excellent course, competitive field is ok ,good beer gardens ,nice hardware

4) Victoria - good field ,course sucks - unfair lanes ,poor starts too much ferry traffic as race constantly held up

5)Richmond - strong currents ,field is so-so ,good hardware,bad finish line timing but I'm sure that will be fixed for next yr

We've only been to three Western festivals so here ya go:

1. Alcan (Vancouver) - Easily matches GWN or Montreal for depth of field. Facilities are beyond reproach. The tide and Gemini boats mess with your mind.

2. San Fran - What more do you need to say? The beach, the city, the food... oh and a lot of excellent teams usually show up (Wasabi, San Diego, ROLI, LARD, BAD, etc)

3. Edmonton - A free-for-all on the water (lanes? who needs 'em!). Excellent hospitality and wacky weather.

We've also heard really good things about Kelowna although it's a little far from, well, everywhere.

Victoria apparently is quite fun but similar to Edmonton with the added challenge of Princess cruise ship dodging.

This is easy:

1. Alcan (late June), if you win a medal, you earned it at this festival. Competition is tops out West. Course is measured but you do have tides that can affect the results. Race side of festival is well run (for the last few years at least). Nice setting. The major downside is the two boats, Geminis are unforgiving so if you are a rec team come out early and get some practice time in them it will help. There is a competitive women's and men's division but each only get 2 races so make sure you have a mixed team also.

2. Victoria (mid August), many of the same teams as Alcan but the Victoria teams gear up for this festival so they are tougher than in Alcan. If you look at the results top 5 divisions are pretty close just depends who raced and drew easier heats on the Saturday. Nice setting, very central. Volunteers are great. Lots of cheering since the finish line is beside the grandstands. Same type of boats for all races. Downside, course is a little short. Seeding can be all over the place (this year was better). Some say the ferry, plane traffic is annoying, I don't find it is since they always run ahead of schedule so the traffic puts them back on schedule. No women or men's divisions.

3. Kelowna (mid September), wrapup of the season so many of the Alcan teams go (except for the US teams). Half way between Vancouver and Calgary so good mix of teams. Nice setting but it is a little later in the season so can be cool (or even cold). Course is a little suspect. Two different types of boats but no Geminis (in case you dislike them). There is a very competitive women's division.

4. Calgary (late July/early August), haven't been for a couple of years but from what I hear hasn't changed. If you are a competitive team then there is only one team at this festival, Calgary Canoe Club, otherwise just a bunch of rec/beer drinking teams. Course is the most fair. Different type of boat but similar to a BuK (sort of). Not much to do at the site (other than drink beer). Organization of races is not what it could be. There is a men's and women's division but they have weird rules on who can paddle where. This would be a great fun festival if they had it during Stampede, race and then party hard with the cowpeople

5. Richmond (mid/late July), a festival to break up the training sessions before Victoria. Usually nice weather. Pirce is cheap. Not much on site. Competition is okay. Course is a joke. Officiating is a bigger joke, start and finish line are a mystery to all that race there, even the officials. Oraganization is a joke (one set of boats in a festival is stupid). Hardware is a joke, who wants a dog tag as a medal, if I want a dog tag I'll join the military. No men's or women's division.

6. Harrison (mid July), new festival. Around the same time as Richmond. Small number of teams. On a lake east of Vancouver. Weather can be great or crappy, usually nothing in between. Officiating was okay. Unusual heats and seeding but in the end it seemed to work out. No men's or women's division.

7. White Rock 250m (late April), first racing of the season. Some close racing. Weather can be cool/cold. Course and layout is diffcult for viewing etc. Hopefully will occur every year but there are challenges out there. No men's or women's division.

8. Lotus and FCRCC regattas (mid/late May). Both are smaller, FCRCC is used as a warmup for Alcan. First regatta where the top teams (in Vancouver) compete head to head. Lotus is smaller and is more of a fun regatta. No men's or women's division.

9. Nanamio (mid July). In its second year. Smaller festival but the people are great. Not a lot of competition but great for a fun festival.

10. False Creek Women Regatta (late May), if you are a women's team this is a regatta to plan for, to test yourself against the west's best teams (Portand and FCRCC). They use only one type of boat but the boats are of different quality. Course is the same as Alcan. If you are a competitive team you end up racing the same boats over and over and over again (since there are not that many). No men's or mixed divisions, that is probably why they call it a women's regatta .