The Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival features a series of dragon boat races and festivities at False Creek. It usually takes place in June.
In 2025 the festival runs from June 20th to 22nd. As of early January, details about this year’s event are to be confirmed.
To learn about the above and other events happening in the Lower Mainland this month, see our June Calendar of Events. To learn about the Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival, continue reading.
This article contains the following information about the Dragon Boat Festival:
Where and When | Dragon Boat Festival Activities | Dragon Boat Video | Tips & Advice | Other Information
Dragon Boat Races and Festival at False Creek
The Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival includes dragon boat racing, live music and other entertainment. You have to pay to race, but the races and other activities are free to watch.
Where and When
The festival’s regular venue stretches along the eastern tip of False Creek, from Concord Pacific Place to Creekside Park by Science World. There are also good vantage points for watching the races around Vancouver’s Olympic Village on the south side of the water.
The 2025 Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival runs on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of June 20th to 22nd. Times and other details are to be confirmed.
Races last year started at around 8:00 am and continued for much of each day. Meanwhile, live entertainment on the TD Main Stage started at around noon.
Dragon Boat Festival Activities
The Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival usually includes outdoor performances, a beer garden, food vendors, and a marketplace. There is also, of course, lots of dragon boat racing in the waters of False Creek.
Live Entertainment in 2024
The 2025 schedule of live entertainment is to be confirmed. Below is the Main Stage lineup from last year’s festival. Exact details were subject to change.
Saturday, June 22nd, 2024
- 1:00 pm – Cindy Yang Dance Academy
- 2:00 pm – Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble
- 3:00 pm – Spakwus Slolem (Eagle Song Dancers)
- 4:00 pm – Kristina Lao
- 5:00 pm – Vox Rea
- 6:00 pm – Post Modern Connection
- 7:00 pm – Blonde Diamond
- 8:00 pm – Hey Ocean
Sunday, June 23rd, 2024
- 11:30 am – Ricecake: Drag ‘n’ Dim Sum
- 1:00 pm – Jia
- 2:00 pm – Haleluya Hailu
- 3:00 pm – Queer as Funk
- 4:00 pm – Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolf Pack)
- 6:00 pm – Dirty Radio
- 7:00 pm – Manila Grey
Drone Show
New for 2024, the Dragon Boat Festival also featured Vancouver’s first public drone show. It kicked off on the Saturday at around 9:30 pm. A large number of drones filled a portion of the sky and created colourful patterns and coordinated sequences to admire.
The show was a celebration of the festival, Chinatown and the city of Vancouver. The elements put in the sky included traditional Chinese imagery as well as art created by local Squamish artists. There was also a music soundtrack for the show featuring local artists Lights, Felix Cartal, SABAI, and Sekawnee.
The event organizers recommended that those in attendance tried to watch from either Concord Pacific Place or the Milton Wong Plaza in Olympic Village. The show was also broadcast on YouTube at concordlive.ca.
Other Events in Previous Years
Along with the races there were other interesting things to check out over the festival weekend this year. There were three different pavilions, including one Chinese, one Indigenous and another presented with the Vancouver Pride Society. They offered local businesses, organizations and arts and crafts. There was also a market with more than 100 vendors.
As well, there was a display of the original teak Dragon Boat that was used at Expo ’86. It was one of the boats that helped bring dragon boat racing more into the mainstream in Canada and the display included plenty of information on the history of the sport here in Vancouver.
This year there was a Concord Pacific Community Zone too. It was an area full of family-friendly activities, including a colouring competition, face painting, magic shows and more. There were about 24 food trucks on site, as well as a licensed patio for adults.
Dragon Boat Races
Dragon boat races run on both the Saturday and Sunday.
Competitions of particular interest are the feature races. On the Saturday there are usually the International Cup, U24 Cup, Senior’s Cup and the Breast Cancer Cup, among others. Sunday’s races normally include various divisions, such as the Premier Women’s, and the Premier Mixed, plus, of course, the main featured race – the Guts & Glory two-kilometre endurance race.
Dragon Boat Video
For a good idea of what the festival part of the event looks like, check out the video below. It shows scenes of the festival’s main venue on land in 2022. The boat races took place in the waters of False Creek nearby.
As you’ll see in the video, in addition to the boat races, at the festival there is live music, a beer garden and lots of vendor stalls. Performing on the Main Stage in this video is the band Coco Jafro.
Tips & Advice
Below are some suggestions to help you make the most of your Dragon Boat race-viewing experience.
GENERAL TIP: Take public transit if you can – the Science World SkyTrain Station is right by the festival venue. Cycling to the event is also a great option, depending on where you’re coming from. The False Creek Seawall is a fabulous cycling route and connects with everything from Kitsilano to English Bay, and even to Coal Harbour and Stanley Park.
PHOTO TIP: As the sun is somewhere in the southeast, south or southwest for most of the day, if it’s sunny then the best place for photos of the races will likely be on the south side of False Creek.
The Olympic Village side of the water, on the south side, is also a more attractive area than around Concord Pacific Place, and it’s also where you’ll find restaurants and pubs, like the Tap & Barrel and Craft Beer Market. Concord Pacific Place on the north side of the water, mind you, is where most of the land festivities and entertainment are based.
Other Information
For more information on the event, see the Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival website. And if you like dragon boat festivals, also check out the Steveston Dragon Boat Festival in Steveston Village in August.
For major events at other times of the year in Vancouver, check out the Festivals and Events Calendar.
Other articles that might be of interest include the following:
- Vancouver Events in June
- Vancouver Festivals and Events
- Drone Shows in Vancouver
- Lower Mainland Summer Activities
- Vancouver on a Budget
- Outdoor Recreation in Vancouver
- Boating in the Lower Mainland
