Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival

About this happenin

Well over a hundred crews of about 25 people race at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, and each one turns up with a camp of family and co-workers behind it. It is one of the largest dragon boat competitions in California. Racing runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on a Saturday at the end of July, with team tents along the shore and vendor booths nearby. The organisers have counted more than 10,000 people on site in a single year. The sport comes out of a folk ritual in southern China that remembers the poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth moon. The people of Chu rowed out to find him, beating drums and splashing their paddles to keep the fish away from his body.

More in July: 9 other Los Angeles events.

Where

Marine Stadium · 5255 E. Paoli Way, Long Beach, CA 90803