Paddlefest is all about building community, with everything we put on throughout the day we make it as inclusive and fun as possible. Although there are many competitions throughout the day, WITH PLENTY OF PRIZES WITH THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS, the day is about connecting with new people and catching up with old friends. So send that person you haven't seen in a while a message and meet up on Sunday 5th May at CIWW for a day of joy.

Onto the events, the full schedule can be found here for all the fun and games happening. 

Trade Stalls, Food and Drink!

This year we are back in our full Paddlefest pre 2020! We have a live band, an all-day DJ, banging food, a bar and fresh coffee happening. On top of that, we have a whole heap of demo boats and paddles from Dagger, Pyranha, Get on the Water, Radical Rider and VE. A whole load of new gear and swag from Palm, NRS, Dewerstone and Hobson to get eyes on. Let’s not forget to stay safe on the water with stalls from Surfplugs keeping the water and bone growth out of your ears, if you paddle and don’t know what that hype is about go and say hi, they’ll explain the importance of earplugs. We couldn’t put this event on without the help of all our Paddlefest sponsors so massive thank you to Palm, NRS, Pyranha, Get on the Water, Dewerstone, Radical Rider, Hobson Kayaks, Surfplugs, VE Paddles, Dagger Kayaks, Farmers Pantry, Red Bull and The Live Lounge.

Don’t paddle but want to get on the water at CIWW Paddlefest?

Paddlefest is all about sharing the joy of the simple luxury of life (kayaking) with great humans simply goofing around and having a great time. Whether it’s meeting someone new or catching up with friends you haven’t seen in years, get together and get on the water. Ways you can still get involved are below:

1: If the rapids are too much for you, that’s absolutely fine, we have beginner Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) sessions all day to book online or on the day. 

2: If you fancy looking down on things our Air Trail is open all day for people to get a birds-eye view from one of our many zip lines, you can book sessions online on our website or on the day in reception.

3: Want to take on the rapids but you don’t back your skills? We have limited raft availability for White Water Rafting in the afternoon to come and join in the thrills and spills of the action on the water. Book online to secure your spot on the rapids at Paddlefest. 

4: Our Indoor Wave is back open and ready to ride, sessions will be available to book all day long for some amazing family fun either on the day or online.

Park and Play at CIWW Paddlefest! Sponsored by Radical Rider

Just like every other weekend, there are two sessions of Park and Play over the day, a morning session and an afternoon session. Only this weekend it’s discounted! Go to the Paddlefest tab on the Book Now button at CIWW.com to book.

The water will be on from 10:00-11:30 4 cumecs, 11:30-13:00 6 cumecs, 13:30-15:45 8 cumecs and 15:45-18:00 10 cumecs.

There will be 6 rafts going out on the 8 cumecs, the rest of the day is completely raft-free!

During the 10 cumecs session, this is limited to the Kayak Cross race. 

While there’ll be plenty of competitions happening all day long that are free to get involved with, if you don’t fancy joining in that’s absolutely fine, all we ask is to clear the way for the lunatics that will be racing. 

There will be limited demo boats available from our wonderful event sponsors so bring your own kayak to throw your coolest most stylish trick! 

Radical Rider will be handing out on the spot prizes for anything within the ‘Spirit of Paddlefest’ so be sure to be yourself and be awesome.

Ducky Derby at CIWW Paddlefest! Sponsored by Dewerstone + NRS

Sign up at the CIWW Marquee and join us for the Ducky Derby briefing at the Climbing Tower in kit and with your paddles at 11:30 for the Novice and 14:00 for the Extreme. This is open to everyone, please categorise yourself with your own judgement, if a sponsored paddler enters the Novice be warned of the consequences from your peers! 

The aim of the game is simply to get to the bottom as fast as possible… and cause as much carnage on the way! Find yourself a race partner, get a Ducky, line up and on the whistle race it out head to head to the finish. There will be multiple rounds so once you’ve celebrated please get the Ducky’s back to the top for the next round ASAP and cheer on the next race. 

You will need to pre-book the morning/ afternoon park and play session via our website online booking system then hit Paddlefest.

There will be Extreme, Novice, Junior Extreme and Junior Novice categories to win.

(Please note regular park and play will continue while the Ducky Derby is going on)

Downriver Play at CIWW Paddlefest! Sponsored by Palm + VE

Sign up at the CIWW Marquee and join us for the Jam session at 12:00 at the corner eddy. This is open to everyone and don't be put off if you're not a freestyle guru, there's still plenty of chance to win, it’s about joy, carnage and crowd pleasers as much as it’s about the ‘best’ tricks.

This will be a ‘Jam Session’ and depending on entry numbers different heats. A Jam session consists of around 15-30 minutes where multiple competitors take turns to use the features on the corner to throw down their coolest tricks! 

There will be a paddlefest scoring system making it fair for everyone! E.g. 1 You throw the biggest trick on the planet, but no smile and you're not looking at the camera you'll score low. E.g. 2 You’re super stoked, bring all the hype and make your best buddy swim, you’re going to score well! 

You will need to pre-book the morning park and play session via our website online booking system then hit Paddlefest.

There will be Male, Female, Junior Male and Junior Female categories to win!

(Please note regular park and play will continue while the competition is going on)

There will be limited demo boats available from our wonderful event sponsors so bring your own kayak to throw your coolest most stylish trick!

Freestyle at CIWW Paddlefest! Sponsored by Surfplugs

Sign-up details are at the CIWW Marquee and join us for the Jam session at 14:30 in Vicarious Eddy (corner hole). This is open to everyone and don't be put off if you're not a freestyle guru, there's still plenty of chance to win.

This will be a ‘Jam Session’ and depending on entry numbers different heats. A ‘Jam session’ consists of around 15-30 minutes where multiple competitors take it in turn to surf the wave and throw down their coolest tricks! 

There will be a Paddlefest scoring system making it fair for everyone! E.g. 1 You throw the biggest trick on the planet, but no smile and you're not looking at the camera you'll score low. E.g. 2 You’re super stoked, bring all the hype and land your first ever roll in the hole, you’re going to score well! 

You will need to pre-book the afternoon park and play session via our website online booking system then hit Paddlefest.

There will be Male, Female, Junior Male and Junior Female categories to win!

(Please note regular park and play and rafts will continue while the Jam session is going on)

There will be limited demo boats available from our wonderful event sponsors so bring your own kayak to throw your coolest most stylish trick!

Kayak Cross at CIWW Paddlefest! Sponsored by Pyranha Kayaks

Sign up BEFORE 15:30 and be ready to race from 15:45!

We are working with the Canoe Wales Slalom Committee to put on this race.

You will need to pre-book the afternoon park and play session via our website online booking system then hit Paddlefest.

You must sign up for the kayak cross race so we can run this as efficiently as possible. You can do this at the DJ booth.

There will be a 1 run-time trial to seed everyone. (You will be given a race bib for the competition) 

It will be the same course for both the Time Trial and Head-to-Head race with an option of upstream gates to do!

Everyone will then go through to the head-to-head heats. The top 2 will go through to the next round until we find our champions! 

Don’t panic! If you get knocked out and still want to race against your friends there will be plenty of time to race your friends up until 18:00 for the finals. 

There will be Male, Female, Junior Male and Junior Female categories to win! This year Paddlefest will host the Welsh Championships for Kayak Cross. 

(Please note regular park and play will stop for the kayak cross to keep the competition fair for everyone)

There will be limited demo boats available from our wonderful event sponsors so bring your own kayak to race it out!

Canoe Slalom at CIWW Paddlefest!

We have Tokyo and Paris Olympians coming to Cardiff! 

On bank holiday Monday, you’ll have the chance to see the very best Canoe Slalom athletes race it out to become Cardiff Bay Canoe Slalom champion 2024. 

With Silver medalist from Tokyo games Mallory Franklin and multiple world championship medalist Kimberley Woods racing it out, it’s not one to miss!

With 4 exciting classes kayak men and women and canoe men and women there is plenty going on.

Fancy getting involved? The local canoe club Seren Dŵr Slalom are putting on a come-and-try it, including a beginners race on the lake here at CIWW. Come and say hi to get involved! 

So all that's left for us to say is... see you all at Paddlefest!

(Don't forget to book via the Book Now button!)