Dragon Boat Races

The Dragon Boat Festival is one of the Orient's most colorful and exciting traditional celebrations, dating back many centuries. It commemorates the death of a much-loved Chinese statesman/poet. Legend tells us that local fishermen raced in their boats to the place where he disappeared in the river and tried valiantly to save him. They wildly splashed the water with their oars and beat their drums to frighten off the "river dragons." Through the years this has evolved into a full celebration, with parades, music and fireworks. In 1976 a team of rowers from Nagasaki, Japan visited Hong Kong to pit their skill against the fisherman's teams and an international sport was born!

The first Dragon Boat Festival in the United States was held in San Diego on Mission Bay in October, 1983 and we are home to several of the beautiful fiberglass boats. Corporate groups now have the opportunity to pit their teams against each other in this exciting, yet traditional race.

• Each boat holds up to 10 or 20 straining rowers, a steersman and a drummer. The drummer not only sounds the cadence to synchronize the rowing speed, but symbolically provides traditional noise to "frighten the dragons away." While they look and sound fun, the 500 meter races, each lasting about 2 minutes, are taken very seriously by competing teams.
• Dragon Races combine fun and teamwork with traditional pageantry and provide an excellent backdrop for a picnic or just a fun afternoon on San Diego's beautiful Mission Bay.
• Includes all staffing, marshals, instructors, drummers, team trophies or medals for the winning team.