Mission and History

Mission

The mission of Colorado Dragon Boat is to build bridges of awareness, knowledge, and understanding between the diverse Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities and the general public through cultural education, leadership development, and athletic competition.

History

The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival debuted in 2001 at Sloan's Lake Park in Denver, and has been held there ever since. It was the dream of three Denver area Asian community leaders who wanted to showcase the growing and diverse Asian community to the public at large (and to each ethnic community under the "Asian" and "Asian American" umbrella).

Dragon boat racing was a unique competitive sport to host here, and to showcase our many local Asian cultures. At the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, the sport has grown from 16 teams in our first year to almost 50 competing in two divisions.

The first year, about 16,000 people attended the one-day event and the five food vendors on hand ran out of during the afternoon even though they ran back to their shops during the day!

In 2023 we hosted more than 200,000 festival-goers to our two-day event. We are the largest Dragon Boat Festival in the country, drawing far more attendees than even the long-established dragon boat races and festivals in cities such as New York, Boston, Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco!

CDBF now features more than 30 food vendors in two Taste of Asia Food Courts, a huge Asian Marketplace of gifts, artisans and organizations, Dragonland interactive children's area, and over 60 performances on three stages that feature traditional Asian to contemporary Asian American culture.

You can enjoy Chinese fan dances, watch authentic martial arts demonstrations, rock out at the Band Stage!

Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon boat racing is an ancient Chinese sport that's catching on across the US, as well as internationally, with competitions and cultural festivals held worldwide.

Dragon boating is over 2,000 years old and is steeped in tradition. In ancient China, Chu Yuan, a poet, warrior, and loyal aid to the Emperor, fell victim to plots and deception, and fell out of favor with the Court. When the old Emperor died, Chu Yuan was unjustly banished and wandered the countryside writing poems he hoped would be heard and heeded by the new Emperor.

Despondent, he finally threw himself into the Mi Lo River. His devoted followers, learning of his death, beat their paddles on the water and banged drums and gongs to frighten away the fish from Chu Yuan’s body. Athletes all over the world still meet to commemorate Yuan’s sacrifice for honor and justice.