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Dragon Boat Festival Sites

Published by dragonboat on February 5, 2016

As the winter will start nearing an end it’s time to start thinking about this year’s upcoming dragon boat festivals around the country. Since this site is just a fan page and you can’t actually contact us to participate in any races I wanted to share a few different official dragon boat sites where you can signup to participate in these events.

There are quite a few locations that hold these, big cities and small so I’m sure my list will be missing many events however I wanted to share the larger ones I’m aware of so you can check them out.

Dragon Boat Festival Sites

North East Events

For all of those living on the east coast the sites below will provide you with more information on upcoming dragon boat races. I’ve also listed the dates of each race so if you are planning on attending one you know how many day’s you’ve got until you need to book a trip or enter the race if you plan to participate.

Here’s a video of the Hartford dragon boat festival that was filmed with a quadcopter with camera flying over the bay, courtesy of Pixel-Art Films.

Southern Events

If you’re a southerner of maybe the northeast water isn’t warm enough for you to compete in then here are some of the bigger dragon boat festivals down south. Florida definitely isn’t at a lack of events, however many of these southern dragon boat organizations haven’t updated their sites with the 2016 race dates.

Here’s an action shot to the right of a dragon boat race in Montgomery, credit goes to Montgomery Dragon Boat organization.

West Coast Events

And finally a few different west coast sites I collected for you to check out if you’re living on the west side.

Other Events

If you are planning on attending a dragon boat festival don’t expect the races to be the only entertainment there. Some of these festivals will extend over the period of a few days and have multiple events in between the races. You’ll find a lot of dragon dances as well as other traditional Asian dances.

Some other events may be face paintings, history presentations on the background of theses festivals, cultural events, and tea ceremonies. You’ll can also buy a lot of Asian food, and not necessarily the ‘china buffet’ type food but some real authentic Japanese and Chinese food.

Additionally if you’re looking for souvenirs then many vendors come to the festivals to sell various items. You’ll find a lot o the typical Chinese gifts like the Buddhas, the jade dragons, and if you’re into martial arts you may find a katana for sale or some other martial arts like nunchakus.

Overall if you attend or participate in a dragon boat festival this year, I can almost guarantee that you’ll have a great time!

Chinese Dragon Boat Races: A Short History

Published by dragonboat on October 11, 2015

Chinese Dragon Boat Races: A Short History

Dragon boat races though now worldwide and are of Chinese origin. An ancient Chinese legend tells that dragon boat races took place from the 3rd century BC with the aim of honoring a famous poet, diplomat and patriot, from what is now Guangdong Province in southern China, called Qu Yuan.

According to the legend, on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into a river, as an act of sacrifice, to protest the corrupt politicians of the time. Seeing the poet in the river, local villagers raced into their boats and rowed as fast as they could to save him. Though their efforts to save him were futile they beat drums and splashed water with their paddles around the area where his body lay, to keep fish away and to defend his soul from evil. Thus the dramatic style of rowing associated with Chinese dragon boats was born.

It is said that later the ghost of Qu Yuan appeared to some villagers where he explained his suicide mission to them, of how he sacrificed himself for them and for the Chinese people, then asked for them to wrap rice in three cornered silken packages to defend his spirit from the dragon, the ruler of the waters. These packages of rice became known as zongzi and are still used as part of the ceremony today, though wrapped in leaves (usually bamboo), rather than silk.

The dragon boat races began to take place in China on the anniversary of his death each year as a tribute to him, and it became eventually an integral part of an entire festival, the Duanwu or Duen Ng festival in China, usually referred to these days in the West as The Festival Of The Dragon, where it was held to mark the beginning of the rice planting season. With importance being given to honor the spirit of the dragon, the ruler of the water, and in doing so encourage the rains to come to the fields. Slightly different versions of the Chinese dragon races and festival began to appear in surrounding countries which shared some of China’s cultural heritage, like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Korea. And since the late 1980s, with the help of Chinese emigres, the sport, and the festival, became better known internationally, becoming initially popular in countries like the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe.

The dragon boat race itself began to be seen as a competitive sport a few decades ago, with what is generally acknowledged as the first international competitive race of modern times taking place in Hong kong in 1976.

These international dragon boat races are governed and organized by the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF). Currently the organization has over 50 nations and is growing fast. Not surprisingly, there is a majority of East Asian nations there, as well as most major Western countries. But other countries too, as far afield as South Africa, Turkey, Chile, Ireland and Armenia, have also became involved in recent years. A remarkable tribute indeed to the poet and patriot Qu Yuan.

Intro – What are Dragon Boat Races?

Published by dragonboat on October 11, 2015

What is a Dragon Boat?

A dragon boat is a man or women powered watercraft that originates from southern China and was historically made from Teak wood.

These boats were, and still are used in racing events that have been held for over 2,000 years. The more modern dragon boats have left their wooden composition behind for the lighter weight carbon fiber frames.

The boats are long and narrow and designed to support a multi-member row team. The sport is well known in multiple countries and there are annual competitions where participants compete.

Below is an image of a modern day dragon boat and their race team to get an idea of the design of these boats and the number of people they can support.

Dragon Boat Festival

Image credit goes to Wikipedia

Each year the events alternate the location they are being held at, much like the Olympics do. This is great because it generates tourism to countries and cities that otherwise may not receive such attention.

These events are usually covered on sports channels or covered and streamed via YouTubers who capture the events using a multi rotor drone that is capable of getting aerial coverage of the events.

My goal of this blog is provide readers with an understanding of the sport, the craft, where upcoming events are, and share some images of the events I find around the web.