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Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race
The Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association (PKSCA) presents the Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat race annually. The race is the second Weekend of June and is free and open to the public. This race involves around 50 teams, Women’s, Mixed, Open, and High School, racing in the incredibly special traditional-style Dragon Boats from Taiwan. Each race has 4 teams compete by sprinting 500m down the Willamette River ending at the bowl in the South Hawthorne Waterfront Park, where their flag catcher reaches out from the dragon’s head to capture their flag.
The first Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race was put on by the PKSCA in June of 1989, 34 years ago. The race attracts teams from the Pacific Northwest and around the world. The traditional-style boats are unique and incredibly special. Each of the 8 boats is just over 40’ long with a colorful dragon head molded in fiberglass on the front and a tail in the back. During a race, each boat has a caller, a drummer, 20 paddlers, a flag catcher, and a tiller.
The race ends after a 500-meter dash when the flag catcher climbs the dragon’s head and reaches out to capture the flag. Each team has its own culture and story, made up of people 14 and up, from all walks of life, drawn together by their love for Dragon Boat racing. This year introduces an Open Division, with no gender restrictions. It is a rare sport where everyone is seen and treated as equals, and where so many have access. Dragon boating is for everyone, every age, every ability, every body.