The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival at Sloan's Lake Park has become a wildly popular cultural bonanza in Denver. 5280 Magazine declared it "one of Colorado's greatest festivals."
But let's back up a step first. What is a dragon boat festival, anyway? Its roots go back thousands of years in China as the Duanwu Festival, which remains a traditional holiday in mainland China and Taiwan. Today, it has spread all over the globe.
What to Expect
This two-day festival centers around the dragon boat competition, with more than 50 teams of boaters clambering aboard intricate and colorful dragon boats and racing their way across Sloan Lake. Races start at 8 a.m. and end at dusk for a full day of competition. But there's a lot more than just the races. Check out these fun features:
• Three performing arts stages with more than 60 performances
• An Asian Marketplace featuring gifts, artwork, crafts and novelties from Asia and the Pacific
• Two Taste of Asia Food Courts showcasing some of the area’s best Asian restaurants and chefs preparing a weekend’s worth of dishes from a variety of Asian cuisines, as well as a beer garden
• Live art demos and interactive art pieces by local artists located at each stage area! These include making your own Manga, helping create a Giant Tiger Chinese Scroll Painting using the art form of Exquisite Corpse, and helping ensure sustainability by recycling your used Coca-Cola and Molson Coors cans by creating a Dragon Statue!
• Dragonland, where kiddos and adults can take part in hands-on learning projects, from kite making to tea education and cooking demos, as well as a bungee trampoline
