Cover The complete guide to celebrating Dragon Boat Festival 2026 (Photo: unsplash.com)
The complete guide to celebrating Dragon Boat Festival 2026 (Photo: unsplash.com)
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With festivities set to return for Dragon Boat Festival on June 19, here’s what to expect and how you can celebrate the 3-day national holiday this year.
The Dragon Boat Festival’s longboats are inspired by boatmen who rushed to save Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), a patriotic politician and poet in the Warring States period. After facing political alienation by corrupt rulers in the court, Qu Yuan drowned himself in a river out of disillusionment and deep despair over the fall of his beloved homeland. For three millennia since, people have commemorated his death by rowing longboats.
Today, the ritual has taken a more cheerful turn—evolving into friendly boat competitions complete with colourful vessels and healthy rivalry. This year, the Dragon Boat Festival lands on June 19, Friday—which contributes to a long weekend until June 21.
The signature activity of the occasion is the dragon boat races, which are both thrilling to be part of and to watch. The Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships are set for June 19, with training at Stanley Main Beach well underway since March. Another popular one, Sun Life Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races—marking its milestone 50th anniversary this year—will take place on June 27 and 28 at the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade.
If you don’t intend to get wet, there are plenty of indoor or relaxing activities to choose from. Check out some of our favourite ones below.
Lay on the charms
People since the Han Dynasty have worn lucky bracelets on their necks, feet or wrists during the festival for longevity, before they are discarded along with bad luck, legend says. They are made by weaving together ribbons of five different colours to echo the date of the holiday. The colours—cyan, white, red, black and yellow—represent wood, gold, fire, water and earth, as well as north, east, south, west and centre. Make a peaceful afternoon out of knotting your own.
Above Rice dumplings have long been associated with Dragon Boat Festival celebrations
Rice dumplings have long been associated with Dragon Boat Festival celebrations
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Get your hands sticky
The festival commemorates the death of Qu Yuan (340BC to 278BC), a Chinese poet and politician who drowned himself in a river in a protest against corrupt rulers in the court. The people admired his patriotism and cast packets of rice called zongzi into the water for fish to eat instead of Qu’s body. Rice dumplings have been associated with Qu ever since. Over the years, recipes have become more elaborate, incorporating ingredients like mung beans, Chinese sausage, jujube, shiitake mushrooms and salted egg yolks, which are wrapped in glutinous rice then bamboo leaves, before being steamed or boiled. Recreate the unmistakable taste of the festival in your own kitchen.
Don't miss: Dragon Boat Festival 2022: The Best Rice Dumplings in Hong Kong
Paper predators
One way people warded off evil spirits they believed caused disease was by cutting out the shapes of five poisonous creatures—snakes, scorpions, geckos, millipedes and toads—from colourful paper to stick on windows, doors, walls and sometimes children’s arms. As well as crafting your own animal decorations, you can also design your own paper dragon boats for a race in a bathtub or pond using paper-folding techniques found online.
In the past, some people believed drinking realgar wine and using it to paint the Chinese character “king” on children’s foreheads would ward off pests, poison, disease and evil spirits. Unfortunately, realgar wine is actually poisonous and can contain high levels of arsenic, which is linked to a host of cancers. While some regions cling to the deadly practice, most places in China have moved away from it.
Perfume and blossoms for luck
The five-coloured bracelets and paper art aren’t the only lucky dragon boat talismans. Traditionally, ladies carried scented sachets containing dahurian angelica and clove, and mothers would hang produce like small peppers, cherub plants and cucumbers on babies because it was believed these protected against plague. Chinese people also hang wormwood and sweet flag flowers on their doors or windows to shun bad luck.
The magical standing egg
In Taiwan, some temples and department stores organise annual egg balancing contests. Some people believe that the chance of standing an egg upright is greatest at noon on Dragon Boat Festival, although scientific research has confirmed that egg-balancing is actually possible throughout the year and is not connected to the gravitational force of the moon or sun.
This article was originally published on June 7, 2021 and was updated on June 10, 2026.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
