About

Local teams experience a two-month training programme and we have two race events where the gloves come off and teams compete against each other out on the water.

First, we have the Harbour Fun Day. This is a fun race day held on Saturday 10 February 2024, to give competitors a taste of what’s to come and an introduction to competitive dragon boat racing.

The second is the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival. Adult teams will have the (non-compulsory) opportunity to race their first heat on Friday 1 March 2024. The rest of the heats, finals, prize-giving and after party will be happening on Saturday 2 March 2024. On Sunday 3 March 2024 we have the youth competition and NZDBA Schools Nationals competition.

During the festival weekend over 100 teams from all over NZ and overseas will race to determine our champions. With both social and championship grades, many of the teams will walk away with prizes.

Not only do we draw in teams, we also welcome thousands of spectators to cheer on the competitors. If you’ve never watched dragon boating before, you’ll quickly discover that it’s one of the worlds best sports to watch. We’ll apologise in advance for the sore throat you’ll have the next day - yelling is inevitable.