Sloan’s Lake Park in Denver
July 27th & 28th, 2019
$5 Parking at Auraria Campus with a FREE shuttle to and from the festival
General Admission is FREE
It’s time for Colorado’s HOTTEST festival of the summer!
The 19th annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival will once again take over Sloan’s Lake Park in Denver for two days full of cultural eduTainment and participAsian. Starting in 2001, the festival has grown in size from just 16,000 to over 100,000 attendees making it the LARGEST Dragon Boat Festival in the country! This is a true testament to the people of Colorado and their thirst and desire to learn more about the multicultural pan-Asian diversity found here in our great state.
With many new attractions and highlights, this year is not one to miss. We will be highlighting the great country of Vietnam with multiple performances and educational experiences. Come check out the Vietnamese Cultural Community Tent that can be found in our Gateway to Asia Village. Here you will learn about the history of Vietnam, taste the best pho broth in Colorado, try on traditional garments and participate in our spicy bun bo hue eating contest. This tent is run by individuals from our local Vietnamese community whose passion is to share their traditions and stories.
This year we are also excited to have Art and Food as our festival themes. We will present Live Art Demos that can be found on the west side of the marketplace, where we will see the amazing talents of artists Ratha Sok, Thien Tai, Casey Kawaguchi, the Japanese Arts Network, and more.
Since this is the Year of the Pig, it is fitting that we will be bringing back our food tastings with our “Pig Out Culinary Contest.” Our judges will be deciding on the best Savory, Sweet, and Vegan/Vegetarian dishes from our festival Taste of Asia food vendors. With more than 24 Taste of Asia vendors representing over 14 different cuisines from around Asia, we are sure to have some stiff competition.
Grab a plate of delicious food and a cold Coors Light or Coca-Cola product before sitting down under our shaded tents to watch the performances on the Performing Arts, Band, Martial Arts/Cultural Unity, and Explore Asia stages. We are honored to be hosting over 80 different performances from local organizations over the two days. A few of our returning organizations include Denver Taiko, MUDRA Dance Studio, and BellaDivas! We have a special highlight, the GDPT Nguyen Thieu Buddhist Youth Association, who will be performing the traditional Vietnamese dances followed by a Vietnamese fashion show.
The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival is run by a non-profit organization called Dragon 5280 with two full time employees, a board of 12 and a handful of seasonal contractors. Without the dedication and passion from our volunteers and supporters, we would not be here today. To learn more about our amazing organization and to get involved as a volunteer, supporter, and/or sponsor, please contact our Executive Director, Sara Moore at Sara@cdbf.org.
The festival’s 2019 poster was designed by Christopher Dominguez.