Wellington Dragon Boat Festival

16/06/2026

A massive shoutout to our volunteer legends who make the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival and our wider community what it is!

Thank you to our coaches and sweeps who endlessly give up their time throughout the season to coach our teams, and to our sweeps (local and out of town) who make every race possible on the water.

Your time, energy, and passion are the reason our events run smoothly and our paddlers get to do what they love. You bring the festival to life, from the first training sessions through to the final race.

We couldn’t do it without you ❤️❤️
Volunteering New Zealand

12/06/2026

Shout out to our friends competing in this exhilarating event (we might not have the turns in Welly, but our waves are just as fun!) Best of luck kneeling & drifting 🏎

Team to debut dragon boat in a high-speed race through narrow village canals in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

10/06/2026

Hi FLCC Pacific Dragons 🇨🇦! 👋 We can’t wait to see you at the .boat.festival in February!

Be like Team Canada and register your team for NZ’s biggest dragon boat festival today! 🐉

01/05/2026

🐲 The 2027 dates are here, and it’s shaping up to be bigger than ever!!

Start locking in your team now, block out your calendar, and don’t leave your spot to chance.

🚨Join the waitlist via our bio for exclusive early access to team registration. Spots are limited and will be snapped up fast once registration opens. 🚨

30/04/2026

Check in tomorrow for the big news! 👀 🗞️

25/04/2026

Remembering those who have served and those who have fallen. ❤️

15/04/2026

I can’t believe joined the .boat.festival waitlist mid Coachella set!

Bieber didn’t hesitate… neither should you. Waitlist link in Bio 👀

11/04/2026

Not to brag, but… if you weren’t there, you missed a good one 🔥🔥
Big energy, great crews, and plenty of fun on and off the water.
Drop this in the group chat and start locking in your 2027 team 👀

05/04/2026

Happy Easter from all of us at Wellington Dragon Boat Festival! 🐣🐉

To celebrate, we’ve hidden Easter eggs throughout this photo… can you spot them all?

Comment below with how many Easter eggs you can find for your chance to win a WDBF merch pack!! 🎁

The winner will be drawn on 20 April. Good luck, and happy hunting! 👀🥚

04/04/2026

Youth Girls - Grand Final 🏆

🥇Solway College Purata - 83.62
🥈QMC - 83.76
🥉St Oran's College - 84.30
🏅Epsom Girls Grammar School - 86.61
🏅Marsden Ice - 87.59

Solway College Queen Margaret College St Oran's College Epsom Girls Grammar School Samuel Marsden Collegiate School

Our largest girls contingent - with 17 schools fighting it out for the Top 5! This Grand Final saw 3 amazing Wellington schools (not bias we promise) go head to head with two out of town schools - Auckland and the Wairarapa.

A special mention to the coaches/sweeps of these crews - some being with the schools for decades upon decades! Four of these schools share their sweeps and coaches with our other Festival and School teams across our dragon boat season, last count we racked up over 550 hours of training sessions! We are grateful for your dedication to showcasing our sport to the younger generations - it makes for some action packed racing!

You won't want to miss being involved in 2027 - get in touch with Brooke to tailor your schools programme. Whether you want participation, or strive for greatness, we've got you!
https://www.dragonboatfestival.org.nz/contact