Dear Friends,

Registration is just around the corner….
1 October 2016 online registration opens and the Festival dates are announced!

The Organizing Committee reminds you that all the information for participating in the Festival and the registration must be done through the online platform. This can be accessed after you have signed up on www.florencebcs2018.org area REGISTRATION.

Good to know:
1) The Festival will host 120 crews at the event
2) There are 2 kinds of registration: EARLY BIRD and STANDARD

• A. Early Bird registration is €.250 per person and Standard Registration is €.300 per person.
• B. A team’s registration down payment is based on 22 persons (20 paddlers and 1 steer-person and 1 drummer) on the team’s roster.
• C. Both registrations down payments are €.2.200.
• D. The total fee due (detail below) for Early Bird is a minimum of €.5.500 based on 22 persons. The total fee due (detail below) for Standard Registration (non early bird rate) is a minimum of €.6.600.
• E. Supporters are also eligible for Early Bird Registration as long as they belong to a team with a complete crew (20 paddlers and 1 steer-person and 1 drummer). Only over-eighteen supporters may participate in the races reserved for supporters.

3) DEADLINES FOR REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT
1 October 2016: REGISTRATION OPENS

1 October 2016 – 31 December 2016: EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION (discounted fee of €.250 per person (minimum 22 paddlers, including steer-person and drummer). During the Early Bird period, teams can register at €.250 per person, a discount of €.50 off the standard fee of €.300. A non-refundable down payment of €.100 per person (with a minimum of €.2,200 down payment each team) must be made at time of registration. This discounted rate is only valid until 1,231 persons have registered or 31 December 2016, whichever comes first. The team will be registered for the event once the full down payment is received.
The deadline for payment of the Early Bird balance is 31 May 2017.
When the balance of the payment is due and a team consists of less than 22 paddlers, including steer-person and drummer, they will lose the discounted price of €.50 per person and will be included in the category of Individual teams without full crews (please see below), therefore the standard registration (€.300 per person) will have to be paid.
Examples:

• A) When the balance is due and a team is not able to reach 22 paddlers as they have only reached say 16 paddlers, and have paid €.2.200 as a deposit, they will have a higher balance to pay at €.2.600.
• B) When the balance is due and a team is not able to reach 22 paddlers and have only 6 paddlers, they will have paid €.2.200 as a deposit, their balance will be €.0 and they lose the down payment of €.400.
• C) When the balance is due and a team is not able to reach 22 paddlers as they have only reached say 16 paddlers and then they add 6 supporters, and they have paid €.2.200 as a deposit, they will have a higher balance to pay at €.4.400.

Should a team desire to register more than 26 paddlers, including steer-person and drummer, the additional team-participants will be allocated to help fill the mixed crews therefore they benefit from the discounted fee of Early Bird Registration.

1 January 2017 – 30 June 2017: STANDARD REGISTRATION (€ 300 per person). During the Standard registration period, the non-refundable down payment is € 100 per person (with a minimum of € 2,200 down payment each team) until the maximum number of crews is reached (120 crews). The team will be registered for the event once the full down payment is received.
1 January 2017 – 30 June 2017: REGISTRATION FEE FOR INDIVIDUALS FROM TEAMS WITHOUT FULL CREWS (€ 300 per person). It is possible for individuals without complete crews to register by paying a non-refundable down payment of €100 per person, and pay the outstanding balance by 30 November 2017. Please remind each participant that they must be a member of an IBCPC affiliated team even if that person is registering as a single participant.
When the full registration of 120 crews has been reached it will be possible for supporters to register.

30 November 2017: deadline for paying the balances of the registration fee. All the names of the participants should be input by this deadline. Non-payment of outstanding registration fees after this date will result in forfeiture of registration and the down payment.

1 July 2017 – 31 January 2018: it is possible to complete teams or register new ones (if spaces remain) at € 300 per person, until all slots are taken.

1 February 2018 – 1 April 2018: it is possible to complete teams, or register new ones (if spaces remain) at € 350 per person, until all slots are taken.

After 2 April 2018, at the discretion of the Organizing Committee, it will be possible to register for non paddling people at €.350 per person (due to late registration it will NOT be possible to include the race package, medal and Festival 2018 T-shirt).
Note: participants under 14 years of age (born after 2003) can register at a lower price, a fixed price of €.180, but they will not receive the souvenir bag. Participants under 3 years ago (born after 2014) can register for free entrance.

4) PAYMENT

– Payments will only be accepted in EUROS;
– All payments must be made only by bank wire using the IBAN and/or SWIFT codes, which will be sent to each team after online registration. The bank wire should contain the team username that will be supplied by the registration system in the NOTATION section of the bank wire.
-Any transfer fees and fees associated with deposit of the funds must be paid for entirely by the team. The amount that is effectively credited to the Organizing Committee’s bank will represent the amount paid by the team.
5) WHAT IS INCLUDED IN REGISTRATION

1 practice session between Wednesday and Friday before the races. This session must be booked through the website after the team’s full registration fee is received.
Saturday and Sunday 2 dragon boat races each day
Saturday and Sunday lunches at race site
Supporters’ race
Opening ceremony
Pink Parade
Sandy Smith Global Race
Flower Ceremony
Closing ceremony with aperitivo party
Race package
Medal
Festival 2018 T-shirt
Festival Programme
Name badge
Reserved athlete area
Team tent
Banner with team name
Access to the activities in the athletes’ area
Complimentary water at the race site
Transfers to the race village from the predetermined meeting points
Ambassador for each team
IBCPC levy fee

6) DRAFT FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

Tuesday: sign-in and delivery race package
Wednesday and Thursday: sign-in and race package; practice
Friday: sign-in and race package; practice and briefing for captains and sweeps, IBCPC Congress, Pink Parade followed by Opening Ceremony
Saturday: races
Sunday: races, Sandy Smith Global Race, Flower Ceremony, Closing ceremony and aperitivo party!

7) REGISTRATION
Registration is carried out only on the Festival website. There are two different paths to registration: teams already IBCPC members and teams who need to join IBCPC.
Teams already members of IBCPC:

• 1. Follow the instructions for “IBCPC member teams”. Choose the country and the team name and then fill in the form with all the required information. By filling out the form and submitting the request, the team will receive an e-mail that confirms receipt of the request.
• 2. The Organizing Committee will verify the completeness of the request and the team will receive via e-mail the information to sign into the registration system.

Teams not yet members of IBCPC:

• 1. Follow the instructions for “teams not yet IBCPC members”. Choose the country and then fill in the form with all the required information. By filling out the form and submitting the request for membership, the team will receive an e-mail that confirms the forwarding of the request with instructions for paying the IBCPC membership fee ($100).
• 2. Once the membership fee is paid, IBCPC staff will verify the completeness of the request and the team will receive the information to sign into the registration system via e-mail.

Once registration sign-in information is received:

• 3. The registration fee down payment must be paid by bank wire, indicating the username assigned in the credential e-mail. The fees will not be able to be paid before receiving the username.
• 4. Once the down payment is received and registered by the Organizing Committee, the teams can continue with the preliminary registration for the Festival with the number of crews reflected in the down payment paid (one team every €2,200). During this step, the number of the participants available for mixed teams should not be indicated.

8) TEAM PHOTOGRAPHS and DESCRIPTIONS: All teams must provide their team photo and the description of the team for the Festival Programme.

9) PADDLES and FLOATION VESTS: Available for those participants who travel without paddles and/or vests.

Questions? Contact us at info@florencebcs2018.org

SEE YOU IN FLORENCE 2018!