Taipei Travel

Taipei's premier summer waterfront celebration is set to return with international acclaim. The 2026 Taipei International Dragon Boat Championships will take place from June 19 to 21 at Dajia Riverside Park. Today (June 6), Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-An joined distinguished guests from Taiwan and abroad at Qu Yuan Temple in Zhoumei, Beitou District—the only temple in Taiwan primarily dedicated to Qu Yuan—to preside over the traditional eye-dotting and river-blessing ceremony. Accompanied by ceremonial drums and prayers, Mayor Chiang personally took up a brush, adding the finishing touches to the dragon boat by painting its eyes, symbolically bringing them to life and officially launching this year's championships.

This year marks a major milestone for the event, which has received two prestigious international honors: a Gold Award in the Event – Cultural category at the MUSE Creative Awards and a Gold Award in the Event Innovation category at the Titan Innovation Awards. The recognition places the Taipei International Dragon Boat Championships among the few city-level dragon boat events in Asia to earn multiple major international creative awards, highlighting Taipei's success in integrating traditional culture, international sport, waterfront tourism, and city branding into a globally recognizable festival and sporting event.

Mayor Chiang said the Taipei International Dragon Boat Championships is not only one of Taiwan's largest and longest-running dragon boat competitions, but also an important platform for showcasing Taipei's culture and waterfront charm to the world. He noted that Taipei has continued to promote riverfront revitalization and people-friendly waterfront development in recent years, transforming the city's riversides into spaces for sports, leisure, tourism, and cultural exchange. The event's international recognition, he added, demonstrates how Taipei has successfully reinterpreted Dragon Boat Festival traditions through sport while sharing the city's cultural heritage and urban appeal with a global audience.

According to the Department of Sports, Taipei has hosted official dragon boat races since 1974, giving the event a history spanning more than five decades. This year's championships have attracted 223 teams and more than 5,000 athletes from Taiwan and around the world, including participants from Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Croatia, and Morocco. The event showcases the teamwork and camaraderie at the heart of dragon boat racing while strengthening international exchange, enhancing Taipei's visibility as a waterfront destination, and promoting broader public participation in dragon boat culture.

Today's ceremony continued the longstanding tradition of paying tribute to Shuixian Zunwang, a revered water deity in Taiwanese folk religion. In addition to performing the eye-dotting ritual, Mayor Chiang escorted the deity's statue aboard a ceremonial vessel for the river-blessing ceremony, offering prayers for safe and successful races. Representative teams participating in the ceremony included the Zhoumei Heritage Dragon Boat Team, the AIT Dragon Boat Team, the Xuyuan Dragon Boat Team, the Chest Warriors Dragon Boat Team, the Chuangyou Dragon Boat Team, and the Dajia Tiehan Dragon Boat Team. Together, they took part in the river-blessing and boat-launching rituals, creating a festive atmosphere that reflected Taipei's unique blend of traditional customs and international participation.

The Department of Sports noted that this year's event theme, "Our Wave, Our Way," encourages participants to create their own momentum and passion through dragon boat racing. In addition to the races, the event will feature an onshore Dragon Boat Festival Carnival, including interactive challenges such as egg-balancing competitions and creative standing-object challenges, as well as the Wavemaker Interactive Experience, an international marketplace, family-friendly activities, riverside music performances, and large-scale art installations. Together, these attractions will transform Dajia Riverside Park into a vibrant waterfront festival that combines sport, culture, and tourism. Residents and visitors are invited to spend the Dragon Boat Festival holiday weekend at the riverside and experience the energy and charm of Taipei's signature summer celebration.

The Department of Sports stated that it will continue leveraging international and city-branded sporting events to strengthen Taipei's position as one of Asia's leading waterfront sports destinations. By using sport as a bridge for tourism promotion and international exchange, Taipei aims to introduce itself to the world through dragon boat culture while further enhancing its global connections.