Dragon Boat Racing and SUP Festival 2025:

Every autumn, when the cool breeze gently sweeps across the lake, Hanoi welcomes a festival that has become a hallmark: West Lake Dragon Boat Racing. The sound of drums, the vibrant colors of flags and flowers, and the cheers along the lake shore create a special cultural and sporting picture that anyone who has participated will never forget.

In 2025, the festival will have a new feature: SUP rowing, a modern sport that is popular among young people. If dragon boat rowing carries the traditional spirit, SUP brings the spirit of discovery and conquest. Two sports - two spirits, but blended together into a common flow: Connecting people - surpassing limits - spreading energy.

Dragon Boat Racing and SUP Festival 2025.

SUP - youth, dedication and spirit of overcoming limits

For thousands of years, dragon boat racing has been associated with life along rivers and seas. The sound of drums urging and oars cutting through the waves is not only to determine victory or defeat, but also to honor collective strength. On a boat, only when everyone is in sync can the boat move forward. That is the lesson of solidarity that our ancestors left us.

During the festival in West Lake, dragon boats become a symbol of the community. The strong formations in traditional costumes, the oars in perfect alignment, the shouts echoing across the water - all make the space seem to be filled with a strong source of vitality.

Unlike rowing, SUP is an individual sport, where each person must maintain balance and dare to face the swaying of the waves. The feeling of standing firmly on the board, each stroke reaching far requires not only technique but also perseverance. The challenge of SUP is to overcome your own limits. You can fall into the water, but then stand up again. You can sway, but then hold on. And that is the message that the festival wants to convey: Dare to challenge, dare to overcome to discover a stronger version of yourself.

Ms. Mai Lan, an amateur athlete who participated in the 2024 dragon boat race, confided: “I will never forget the moment when my team’s boat rushed forward amidst the pounding drums. At that moment, I clearly felt the strength of the collective. Each oar, each shout made me feel like I belonged to something bigger than myself. After the race, I not only became stronger but also learned how to coordinate, trust and be of one mind with everyone.” It was from that experience that she and many others determined to return for the 2025 season.

As a participant in the 2024 season and the whole team achieved high results, Ms. Vu Han (currently a student at Tsinghua University (China) shared more experience: “In 2024, after finishing a 2-year course in the US and returning to Vietnam, thanks to the introduction of friends, I joined the US Alumni team to participate in the dragon boat racing competition on West Lake. In 2023, the team finished second, only losing to the German team, which was superior in physical strength. That memory became the motivation for us in 2024 to set a high determination, training continuously for four months. The final match became a fateful moment. With absolute concentration, the whole team finished in 3 minutes 9 seconds 98, while the German team only reached 3 minutes 22 seconds 16. That victory brought a feeling of bursting, happiness when a collective fought together and reached the finish line together”.

Bringing Vietnamese culture to the world

As the national airline, Vietnam Airlines not only carries the image of Vietnam around the world through flights, but also always cares about nurturing culture from within.

Accompanying the Dragon Boat Racing and SUP Festival 2025, Vietnam Airlines affirms its philosophy: A strong brand must have cultural depth. If in the sky, the emerald green Ao Dai and friendly smiles are the business card introducing the country to the world, then under the surface of West Lake, the presence of Vietnam Airlines in a traditional - modern festival is the way the airline nurtures the roots of national culture. That is the connection of the brand with heritage, with community pride.

Dragon boating and SUP - two sports, two spirits, but the same flow: Connecting people: The collective beats together on the dragon boat, individuals find community in the common space of SUP. Transcending limits: From the pounding drum beats forcing the boat to move faster, to the falls - standing up on SUP. Spreading energy: From the cheers along the lake shore to the images shared across the media, making Hanoi - Vietnam a unique cultural meeting place.

The 2025 Dragon Boat and SUP Festival is not only a sporting event, but also a cultural declaration. It affirms that, to reach out to the world, we not only need technological or economic strength, but also a deep cultural foundation. With the companionship of Vietnam Airlines, the festival is proof that the national brand is not only an image flying high in the sky, but also a place to nurture identity from the roots. And when tradition and modernity flow together, positive energy will spread, connect people, and empower the whole community and the whole nation.

The Dragon Boat Racing and SUP Festival is one of the events in the series of activities of the program "Touching Autumn in Hanoi" organized by the Hanoi People's Committee in coordination with Vietnam Airlines, which will take place on October 5, 2025, attracting 700 athletes, including 12 international dragon boat teams, 20 domestic dragon boat teams; 30 international SUP athletes and 120 domestic SUP athletes.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/le-hoi-boi-chai-thuyen-rong-va-cheo-sup-2025-noi-van-hoa-truyen-thong-gap-go-the-thao-hien-dai-718164.html