This year’s Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival will feature new and expanded programming over the course of the very first summer weekend of 2024.
And the very first day of the two-day free public festival will be bookended by a spectacular drone show over the waters of East False Creek near Science World.
The drone show will take place at approximately 9:30 pm on Saturday, June 22, 2024, following a day of thrilling races, live concerts, and more during the free event. Over 6,000 racers on more than 250 teams will compete in this year’s Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival through the end of Sunday, June 23.
Saturday’s dragon boat racing on the water will end at 6:30 pm, but the pre-drone show programming in the evening continues with dozens of food trucks, one of Vancouver’s biggest waterfront licensed patios, and a concert by Hey Ocean! and other artists on the TD Main Stage.
On June 8, organizers successfully conducted a “surprise” small technical test show, using a smaller fleet of drones to carry out just a fraction of the entire planned show sequence.
Last night’s drone show test over East False Creek, ahead of the Dragon Boat festival in 2 weeks. 🐲
This is just a segment of the show using roughly half of the planned number of drones.
Don’t miss Vancouver’s very first public drone show on June 22!https://t.co/7lg3jHzYGF pic.twitter.com/COrWm5ZtKv
— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) June 9, 2024
Behind the scenes at the take off and landing zone. pic.twitter.com/Jummk1pAmV
— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) June 9, 2024
For the actual public show on June 22 during the race weekend, expect to see as many as up to a few hundred drones while viewing the spectacle from areas in and around Northeast False Creek.
The drone show will be fully synchronized to a soundtrack.
The festival’s main area — featuring the TD Main Stage, live entertainment, activations, and food trucks — will be located at Creekside Park and Concord Pacific Place.
In late July 2024, drones will be returning to the skies over Vancouver, as there will be a pre-fireworks drone show for each of the three nights of the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks competition over English Bay.
Drone show at Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival 2024
When: Saturday, June 22, 2024
Time: Drone show begins at approximately 9:30 pm. Please note that this show depends on optimal weather conditions.
Where: Concord Pacific Place, Creekside Park, and East False Creek, Vancouver
Admission: Free