Arts and Culture

The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society interprets dragon boat through its ancient roots as a cultural sport. Our founding mission sets out that the Society will run an annual multicultural Festival that celebrates sport and culture. By bringing together perspectives and participation from diverse communities, we fulfill our founding mission to create an intercultural gathering space where everyone belongs. Since 1989, we’ve hosted and commissioned artists, musicians, actors, sculptors, and other local creative individuals to be a part of our organization and events.

Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival

Stretching across Creekside Park and False Creek, North America’s flagship dragon boat festival showcases our local community at its best. From the Main Stage acts, to local artists that interpret our community in a range of media, the Festival invites our community in to explore our different stories.

On the TD Main Stage, our acts reflect Vancouver’s vibrant artistic talent. Working with local Indigenous communities and nations, we are pleased to present demonstrations and performances at the Indigenous Cultural Pavilion, and traditional Chinese arts and artisans in the Chinese cultural Pavilion. Across the site, enjoy visual art displays exploring different stories and narratives, video storytelling through our short documentary series, or roaming performing arts through our partnerships with local Chinese lion and dragon dance troupes.

And the music doesn’t stop when the races do. We invite you to join us for the day and spend the night at our Festival headliner concerts, all for free. Past performers on the TD Main Stage include artists like Dear Rouge, Yukon Blonde, SABAI, k-os, Jill Barber, Alex Cuba, Hotel Mira, The Zolas, and much more.

Plus, go beyond the water with us, and explore our community. Working with our program partners, enjoy free programs at sites around Vancouver, as we celebrate the different facets of our cultural fabric, together.

Click below to watch our 2023 Festival Recap video!

Connecting Culture and Competition

Thousands of youth every year take part in our highly popular program, in partnership with the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens, where youth groups explore the Gardens with experienced guides before taking part in a 90 minute paddling experience on the water.

By partnering with the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens, we make the link between sport and culture more clear, and we help make the lessons that students read in their books about Canada’s link to Chinese culture or multiculturalism a material experience. Moving beyond abstract ideas, we help youth participate in the ongoing creation and promotion of Vancouver’s civic heritage, all the while enjoying everything Vancouver has to offer from the water.

Email us at info@dragonboatbc.ca for more information on our youth programs.

Growing beyond False Creek

Thanks to investments from the Government of BC and the BC Arts Council, we’re pleased to grow our cultural programs. Visitors to events like the Vessi 500 Championship, or FreshCo Richmond Dragon Boat Festival enjoy opportunities to engage with great local talent- all for free- as well as enjoy cultural programs that highlight the heart of our communities. And we’re just getting started- over the next few years, we’ll be expanding these programs to create vibrant events that become mainstays for our neighbours, and cement our signature events as not-to-miss celebrations of the stories behind what bring us together.

And, as we grow and expand further, look for even more exciting initiatives like our annual Olympic Village Lunar New Year Festivals and our upcoming Chinatown Community Hub to create spaces for gathering, cultural sharing, performance, and the arts.

Cultural Program Priorities

Artists from all backgrounds are invited to apply to perform and/or present at the Society’s events, programs, or Festivals. Staff and volunteers also actively search for talented individuals within BC to be a part of the event.

The Festival generally prioritizes artists from traditionally excluded communities including: POC, Indigenous, LGBTQ2+, and female/gender non-binary identifying artists. It is required that artists present work that is of significant cultural or artistic value, and that is accessible to the community. In cases of traditional cultural carriers, we work with artists and the cultural community to determine what level of access is appropriate, taking into careful consideration protocols and requirements.

Artist work must also be within the scope of the Society’s founding mission to create a place of intercultural dialogue, which while broadly defined to allow for diverse perspectives, requires oft-heard perspectives to give way to other ideas and concepts.

Due to the high volume of applications, we will only be in touch with selected acts; thank you for your understanding. We review applications throughout the year for our events on a rolling basis for current and future years.

If you have a performance or artistic installation/commission that we should consider, please fill out our application form here.

CIDBFS Cultural Committee Leadership

• Lorraine Lowe – Cultural Committee Co-Chair and Board Liaison (Executive Director, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Gardens)
• Dr. Amanda Cheong – Cultural Committee Co-Chair (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology: University of British Columbia)
• Dominic Lai – Cultural Committee Secretary and Staff Liaison (Development, Marketing, and Operations Director, Dragon Boat BC)