Olympia Dragon Boat Festival

06/18/2026

What is the dragon boat opening ceremony?

The Chinese Idiom "Huàlóng-diǎnjīng" literally translates to "dotting the eyeball when painting a dragon". As the story goes, Liang Dynasty painter Zhang Sengyo refused to do so when painting his dragons on the walls of An Le temple... only to relent to public pressure, and bring the hyper-realistic dragons he painted to life! By "Awakening the Dragon" (our boats figurehead) and dotting its eyes we hope for a similar effect. Ending its slumber, raising its spirit and preparing it for a beautiful race day to come!

06/07/2026

And just like that, registration is full! With a whopping 44 teams joining us this year, the 2026 is going to be a blast!!! 🎉🐉

For clubs still hoping to join, we have added a "waitlist" form to our event page. That said, we'd also be glad to see you join us as a volunteer if your team isn't competing!!!

Join us July 10th for our opening ceremony and stay for a fun-filled day of races on July 11th.

05/14/2026

We can't believe how many teams have already registered for this year's fun, but it's presented us with a (great) problem: we're running out of space! If you want to get in the water, be sure to sign up!

https://olympiadragonboat.org/festival/

05/01/2026

Calling all awesome people: we need your help!!! Volunteer Registration is live, and we hope you'll join us for an incredible festival this July 10th and 11th.

Sign up now, and be part of the fun! https://forms.gle/ejnEfZhoDykXTbGH9

04/12/2026

Registrations are rolling in, and we LOVE to see it! We've heard from a couple of teams who are registerting a second team, but might be short a paddler or helm - so we wanted to create a thread for some match-making! 🙋‍♀️🐉🙋

If you're a helm who won't be steering your own team, maybe you could till for another team? Put your name below!

Maybe you're a paddler who isn't competing with your usual team for this race? Let folks know, and maybe you can join another team for some fun!

Connect below so you can fill your boats!

Send a message to learn more

04/08/2026

Hey, Olympia! Does your family like to compete? Or maybe your business is looking for a fun summer activity outside of the office? Whatever the case, if you bring the paddlers, we'll get your race-ready!

A community team is a short-term commitment, but an experience you'll remember for a lifetime. Try your hand at this incredible sport - and who knows, maybe you'll even find a new hobby in the process! 😉

https://olympiadragonboat.org/festival/community-teams/

01/10/2026

Are you filling out your club’s 2026 race calendar? If so, be sure to register for our race on July 11th!

https://olympiadragonboat.org/olympia-dragon-boat-festival/odbf-event-info/

01/01/2026

Registration for the 2026 Olympia Dragon Boat Festival is officially open!!! 🥳😍😎

Sign up early to secure your spot (and take advantage of that sweet early bird pricing!) - https://olympiadragonboat.org/olympia-dragon-boat-festival/odbf-event-info/

08/12/2025

Did you get a chance to check out these awesome medals from this year’s festival??? We were lucky enough to have the skilled folks at laceymakerspace working on our awards! Not only did they do a fantastic job, they were fantastic partners to bring our vision to life. We love supporting other local orgs like this, and can’t wait for our next project together!

(We know some teams weren’t able to collect their medals on race day, but never fear! The team at maker space helped us with a second order, and we’re hoping to have the remaining medals mailed out in the coming week!!!)