Dragon Boats in False Creek

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 ran from June 20th to 22nd. The 2026 event has been cancelled due to the FIFA World Cup happening at this time.

See our June Calendar of Events to learn about the above and other events happening in the Lower Mainland this month. Continue reading to learn about the Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival.

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 in Vancouver

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.

This year’s Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival ran on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of June 20th to 22nd.

Races typically start at around 8:00 am and continue for much of each day. Meanwhile, live entertainment on the TD Main Stage starts at around noon.

Dragon Boat Racing Base in False Creek — The Boat Docks by Olympic Village

Dragon Boat Festival Activities

The Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival 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 2025

The 2025 schedule of live entertainment is here. Below is the Main Stage lineup from this year’s festival. Exact details were subject to change.

Friday, June 20th, 2025

5:00 pm – Sichuan Face Changing
6:00 pm – Abreast in a Boat Welcome Party
6:45 pm – The Dimes

Saturday, June 21st, 2025

12:30 pm – Spakwus Slolem
1:30 pm – Cindy Yang Dance Academy
2:30 pm – Rosemary Ginger
3:30 pm – Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolf Pack)
4:30 pm – The Kuyas
6:00 pm – Felix Cartal
7:30 pm – Lights

Sunday, June 22nd, 2025

12:30 pm – BC Chinese Music Ensemble
1:30 pm – Children of Takaya
2:30 pm – Toddy
3:30 pm – Lean
4:30 pm – Tiger Really
5:30 pm – Royal Oak
6:30 pm – Nikkaela
7:30 pm – Ricecake

Dragon Boat Music and BBQ — People Enjoying the Festival BBQ and Music

Festival Drone Show

In 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. Whether a drone show happened in 2025 was to be confirmed as of the last time we checked in early June.

The show in 2024 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 and was again in 2025.

Vancouver Dragon Boat Drones

Other Events in Previous Years

Along with the races there were other interesting things to check out over the festival weekend last 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. 2025 was likely the same, but with exact details to be confirmed.

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.

Last 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 Racers

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.

Vancouver Dragon Boat Festival — Dragon Boats by Science World

Dragon Boat Video

Check out the video below for a good idea of what the festival part of the event looks like. The video 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 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 is where most of the land festivities and entertainment are based.