In Erlong village the two boats race to a gong, with no drum and no winner

Kaohsiung races on the Love River, which drew more than 110,000 visits over the first two days in 2026, about 10% more than the year before. The Love River also has rare night races, and Fo Guang Shan's flying-horse lanterns flew at 18:50 and 20:30.

The Lukang Duanyang International Dragon Boat Championships on the Fulu River are spread over three days: in 2026, heats on 19 June, semi-finals on the 20th and finals on the 21st, each day starting at 13:00 and running past 20:00. On the Tainan Canal the course runs from Anyi Bridge to Chengtian Bridge, with vendors and cultural activities on the bank from 15:00 to 21:00 each race day.

Duanwu has an egg-standing custom: at noon an egg is said to stand upright on its own, and in 2026 the riverside programmes in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Hualien all included egg-standing. Liyu Lake in Hualien also held a mass zongzi-wrapping for 10,000 people.

Racing dragon boats and eating zongzi are traced to the legend of Qu Yuan, a poet of the state of Chu who drowned himself in the Miluo River. The Erlong regatta in Jiaoxi, Yilan, has its own history: it has been held for more than two centuries and began as a rite for the souls of the drowned. Qiwulan and Zhouzaiwei each put one boat on the water, the crews row to a gong rather than a drum, the boats carry no dragon heads, and no winner is declared.