Returning to Lady Bird Lake on April 25, 2026, the 26th annual Austin Dragon Boat Festival will take place at Festival Beach (1621 Nash Hernandez Senior Rd, Austin, TX 78702). This year’s Festival will kick off at 10 am with cultural performances from several dance teams and music troupes.
Launched by Amy Wong Mok and the Asian American Cultural Center and now produced by The Lunar Foundation, this year’s festival reaches a new peak with 26 dragon boat teams and more than 500 paddlers competing in its largest field yet.
The line-up features Austin Taiko, the Texas Dragon/Lion Dance Team and the Austin Filipino Cultural Dance Troupe. There will be multiple food options including Red Dragon Bao, Happy Lemon and Kessho, with brands like H-E-B and Coca-Cola participating with activations onsite.
Additionally, Austin-based visual artist with over 29.3 million YouTube subscribers known for hyper-detailed, large-scale artworks, Zachary Hsieh (ZHC), will join this year’s Austin Dragon Boat Festival by painting a 40-foot dragon boat at a private location in Austin.
He will then bring it to life with a live finishing session on the festival grounds at the event in front of thousands of ADBF attendees. This boat will then be auctioned off, with bidding available through April 30.
In addition to the race, the festival will promote Asian American Pacific Islander heritage with programming including the “Fold for Good” zongzi activation led by Chef Uyen Pham, with 100% of proceeds going to Central Texas Food Bank.
With 20 teams, 400 paddlers and 3,000 attendees, the festival welcomes fans and competitors from all over the world. The Austin Dragon Boat Festival is a free, public event, open to all ages, with no admission fee for spectators.
For more information on the Austin Dragon Boat Festival, see here.
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Source: Austin Dragon Boat Festival, Lady Bird Lake, Asian American Cultural Center, The Lunar Foundation, Zachary Hsieh,
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