A 2,000-year-old Chinese tradition raced annually on the Toronto Islands
The Toronto Dragon Boat Race Festival
Launched in 1989, the Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival brought an ancient Chinese paddling tradition to the Toronto Islands and grew into one of the largest dragon boat festivals outside Asia.
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The Toronto International Dragon Boat Race Festival launched in 1989 on the Toronto Islands, adapting a paddling tradition with roots more than 2,000 years old in Chinese culture, traditionally tied to the Duanwu (Dragon Boat) Festival commemorating the poet Qu Yuan. Teams paddle long, narrow boats decorated with dragon heads and tails, racing to the beat of an onboard drummer who sets the paddling rhythm.
One of the largest outside Asia
What began as a modest community event grew over the following decades into one of the largest dragon boat festivals held outside Asia, drawing corporate, community and competitive teams from across North America to race on Toronto's harbour waters each summer. The festival has become one of the more visible annual expressions of Toronto's Chinese and broader Asian-Canadian community presence in the city's festival calendar, alongside cultural performances and food vendors that run alongside the races.
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