THIS year sees the fourth annual holding of the Bradford Dragonboat Festival in aid of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

The biggest event of its kind in the UK, the three-day festival takes place once again at Roberts Park in Saltaire, from Friday, June 22, to Sunday 24.

It is open for the public to attend from 9am each day.

Here is your guide to what is going on at the festival over the three days.

Friday: The Youth Championship.

Saturday: The Lord Mayor’s Championship.

Sunday: The Multi-Charity Championship.

Kicking off the festival is the second Youth Championship, building on the success of last year’s inaugural race.

A total of 25 teams from schools and youth organisations will be taking part, in three categories for juniors, seniors, and disabled teams.

As well as the racing, there will also be a Careers and Education Zone, with a wide range of colleges and businesses holding stalls to show the competing young people the endless opportunities available to them once they leave full-time education.

On Saturday is the main event, the Lord Mayor’s Championship, with more than 30 teams taking part.

Each team gets three races, wit the fastest three teams going into the final to be crown champions and receive the prestigious Dragonboat trophy.

All teams have also been raising money for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal, which is supporting the Down Syndrome Training and Support Service, and the Wishing Well Appeal.

As well as the racing, there will be live music and other events through the day, as well as an array of market stalls selling food and other items and a range of children’s activities.

The approximate timings for Saturday are:

9.20am - Last year’s Lord Mayor of Bradford Councillor Abid Hussain officially opens the festival

9.30am - The first race of the day

6pm - The grand final race, followed by trophy presentation to the victorious team.

There will also be live music through the day from artists including Issimo, CPSD, Regan and Dave McKinley on Saturday, and Hoodoo Operators, Emily Galt, Doug Nissley, Shane Pain, DCM Dan Audio and Uncle Dad on Sunday.

There will also be Zumba classes each morning at around 11am and Gatka demonstrations - which is a form of martial arts using Sikh swords. A military band will also be performing on the main stage and in the bandstand on Saturday along with further Gatka demonstrations, and dance shows on Sunday.

On Sunday, more than 40 teams will be taking part in the Multi-Charity Championship, where teams can choose their own charity to raise money for.

At least 18 different charities will be represented on the day, from hospital trusts to cancer charities and more.

Also competing on the Sunday will be the Team GB under 18s team, who are reigning world champions at their age group, and will be raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support after Hovis and Mercedes-Benz kindly sponsored a boat for them.