Dragon Boat Festival

Singapore may be a place for business trips, shopping, and modern entertainment. Still, certain ceremonial and traditional festivals, such as the Dragon Boat Festival, should not be missed.

Dragon Boat Festival represents the culture of the people and the Chinese influence over Singapore’s past. As over seventy per cent of the population in Singapore is Chinese, it is a small wonder that most Chinese festivals are celebrated with much fervour in this country.

Regarded as a water sport that needs great strength, practice and team coordination, the Dragon Boat Festival signifies the abundance of Chinese influences rooted back to the ancient history of Singapore. At the time of the reign of the Chinese kingdom, Chu, the great poet Qu Yuan, who was also the Minister of the State, reportedly threw himself into the Mei Lo River when he saw his state going down in the mires of corruption. In his memory, the boat race festival is held. As the tales go, the boatmen rowed desperately to save him from the flesh-eating fish, but they could not reach him on time.

The Dragon Boat Festival has retained its structure and racing format since its inception—the only changes have been the racing venue and distance. Formerly a sea event raced at 800m, it is now raced in the calm conditions of Singapore’s pristine reservoirs—the cityscape picturesque Marina Reservoir or the deep heartland Bedok Reservoir. It also adopted the international standard premier racing distance of 500m. Hence, the Singapore Nationals are running in the SDBF.

The Dragon Boat Festival is also well known for the 1,000m Prime Ministers Cup (PM Cup). This event is a major and prestigious competition among Singapore’s tertiary education institutions, and it is held in both men’s and women’s racing classes.

The festival also hosts the Breast Cancer Foundation (BCF) commemorative race. Now, accepting cancer survivors and/or fighters of all kinds is one of many manifestations of Singapore’s support and encouragement to the brave people fighting the good fight against cancer and other diseases. We share their burden through sport (especially dragon boat), and we aim to prevail together.

Several dragon boat racing clubs are participating in the Dragon Boat Races in Singapore. Boat racers can register in several online forums to participate in this annual festival and race.

The sight of the beautifully adorned boats and the energy of the racers is infectious. Crowds throng the sides of the river to cheer the teams, creating a carnival-like atmosphere throughout the event.