The Dragon Boat Festival is rooted in thousands of years of Chinese culture and tradition.

Since 1989, the annual Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival hosted by Dragon Boat BC has flourished in Vancouver as a signature event, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds.

Join Sonny Wong (Founding Committee Member and Past General Manager, Dragon Boat BC; Board Member, Chinese Canadian Museum), Andrea Wong (Past Marketing Coordinator, Dragon Boat BC), and Elizabeth Wong (Director, Fei and Milton K. Wong Family Foundation) as they reflect on their memories of the festival throughout its formative years and highlight its uniqueness then and now. Andrea and Elizabeth both grew up with dragon boating discussions at the dinner table as daughters of founding chair, the late Milton K. Wong.

Dominic Lai (Development, Marketing, and Operations Director, Dragon Boat BC) will share how the festival has evolved and introduce “Paddles Up! The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Exhibit.” Sarah Ling (Exhibition and Program Manager, Chinese Canadian Museum) will provide a glimpse of how the museum’s exhibition in Chinatown will be animated to celebrate the festival’s origins throughout the summer.

Explore the intersection of art, culture, and sport at our new exhibit, reopening May 28 at BC Sports Hall of Fame at BC Place! See unique artefacts including two full sized dragon boats, hear stories from athletes of all backgrounds, and learn about the festival’s cultural heritage. Plus, for the first time in almost 20 years, see the Festival’s unique Legacy Collection of commissioned art and artefacts.

Highlights of the exhibit include:

• The complete collection of every Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival/Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival program or poster from 1989 to 2019, for the first time ever!
• Key pieces from the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society’s Legacy Collection
• Original teak dragon boat from Expo 86, donated from Hong Kong to Vancouver and sparking the start of dragon boat in North America
• The most complete set of medals awarded at the Festival from 1995 onwards, including the first ever Club Crew World Championships medal awarded (Vancouver 1996)

Visit the exhibit until October 2021 every Friday to Sunday at BC Sports Hall of Fame at BC Place Stadium. Book tickets ahead of time and review COVID protocols online at bcsportshall.com/tickets.

Welcome to A Seat at the Table: Chinese Immigration and British Columbia, the inaugural project of the Chinese Canadian Museum. This temporary exhibition explores historical and contemporary stories of Chinese Canadians in BC and their struggles for belonging. It looks to food and restaurant culture as an entry point and features stories that reveal the great diversity of immigrant experience and of the communities immigrants develop.

Located at the Hon Hsing Building in Vancouver’s Chinatown, the building itself is a historic icon built in 1910.

A Seat at the Table: Chinese Immigration and British Columbia is produced in collaboration with the Museum of Vancouver and the University of British Columbia, supported by the Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver.

The exhibition features interactive story panels, videos, and audio to provide snapshots from the lives of Chinese Canadians. The innovative and unique quality of this living exhibit is that it continues to grow with every visitor.  You will also have opportunities to record and add your personal stories to the collection.