​(Boston June 1st, 2026) Come celebrate with us in the Year of the Horse the  47th Annual Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday, June 14th, 2026,  from 12:00–5:00 PM rain or shine! The Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival is  the oldest dragon boat festival in North America, founded in 1979.  

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Located by John W. Weeks Footbridge on the Charles River, between  JFK Street and Western Avenue, this year’s festival will feature 72 teams, with  about 2000 paddlers from all over Massachusetts, New England and New  York. They will compete in ten category groups with special races and medals  for Collegiate, Finance, Corporate, Health Care, University Alumni, Women, Club,  Community, Youth, and All Cancer Paddler divisions.  

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Spectators will be able to watch brightly colored, 40 foot Hong Kong style  dragon boats as they race on a 500-meter course up the Charles River from the  Western Avenue Bridge to the John W. Weeks Footbridge. This is a serious and  sanctioned Dragon Boat racing competition. Today, Dragon Boat Festivals and races  are popular around the world. The first Dragon Boat Festival in the United States  was held in Boston in 1979, the first in North America. It is now the largest Asian  cultural festival in New England.  

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The Dragon Boat Races be held all day Saturday June 13th and Sunday June  14th. The cultural programs and festival will begin at 12 Noon on June 14th. All  programs are free and family friendly for visitors. Sponsors, founders, dignitaries  and community members will dot the eyes of the dragon head on each boat in a  traditional Eye-dotting Ceremony. This is an ancient Chinese ceremony that is  believed to enable the dragon to soar with the utmost power. The Eye-dotting  Ceremony will take place at 12 Noon at the docks with the accompaniment of a  traditional Chinese waist drum dance on the stage inside the large performance  tent. After the Eye-dotting Ceremony, VIPs and sponsors will follow Wah Lum Kung  fu’s Lion Dance parade into the performance tent for the ribbon cutting and  opening ceremony. 

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The Eye-dotting Ceremony will be followed by cultural programs,  demonstrations, performances and arts, crafts and games, as well as our major  sponsors’ promotional tents, community display tables. There will be traditional  Chinese drumming, singing and music, Chinese yoyo performance, as well as  Korean, Thai and Chinese dances, Korean Taekwondo demonstrations, traditional  Chinese opera performance, and returning favorites such as Dragon and Lion  Dances and traditional Japanese Taiko drumming. Watch and learn Taichi, martial  arts, and lion dance with demonstrators in our interactive program. Visitors young  and old will find fun, inspiration and cultural engagement with beautiful hands-on  Asian games, arts and crafts. Come also to sample various Asian foods featuring  Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian, Filipino, Chinese and more along  Memorial Drive.  

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Boston Dragon Boat Festival is working with Massachusetts Water Resource  Authority to bring free drinking water to the festival site with a water buggy.  People can fill their water bottles in a warm June day.  

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Corporate Sponsorships

  

Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (Festival Name Sponsor) 

Bain Capital  

Eastern Bank  

South Cove Community Health Center  

State Street Corporation  

Sun Life Financial Inc.  

SalesForce  

Trapology  

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Corporate and Community Partnerships

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Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation  

Greater Boston Chinese Culture Association  

Chinese Cultural Foundation  

Gentle Giant Moving Company  

Cambridge Arts Council  

Lexington High School  

Boston Latin School  

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority  

Atomic Roasters

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Ancient History of the Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival  

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Traditionally held on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month (late May to mid June  on the solar calendar), the Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the life and death  of Qu Yuan (340-278 BCE). A political leader of State of Chu, Qu Yuan is recognized  as China’s first distinguished poet. Qu Yuan lost the king’s favor and was banished  from his home state of Chu because of his opposition to the prevalent policy of  compromise to the powerful state of Qin. In exile, he wrote the poem,  “Encountering Sorrow,” which shows a great loyalty to his state and its people. In  278 BCE, Qu Yuan learned the news that Chu had been conquered by Qin. Heart  broken, he drowned himself in the Mi Lo River. The people of Chu rushed to the  river to rescue him. Too late to save Qu Yuan, they splashed furiously and threw  zong-zi (traditional rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves) into the river as a  sacrifice to his spirit and to keep the fish away from his body.  

  

The Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival is used as a vehicle to promote  Asian cultures and Dragon Boat racing, as well as to bring diverse communities  together in Boston and the surrounding areas. In 2025, around 60,000 people lined  the banks of the Charles to enjoy the festivities and performances.​ 

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Website  

https://www.bostondragonboat.org 

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Social Media  

https://www.facebook.com/BostonDragonBoat/ 

https://www.instagram.com/bostondragonboatfestival/ 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyXXAle3rXFRPisR6KukPiQ

 

For PR, other festival inquiries, please contact:  

James Connelly  

520-990-8504  

pr@bostondragonboat.org