The Rose Festival is proud to host the Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Races, an event that has been bringing an exciting Chinese tradition to Portland for more than two decades, beginning in 1989.
Held on the Willamette River near the Hawthorne Bridge, the races feature exciting four-team heats held every nine minutes. More than 80 different teams – local, national and international – compete in boats graciously provided through the Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association.