WBoat parades are a waterway event with illuminated boats. Some of the well known water parades include locations such as Walt Disney World, the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, and Fort Lauderdale.
WThe Aranmula Boat Race the oldest river boat fiesta in Kerala, the south western State of India is held during Onam (August–September). It takes place at Aranmula, near a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Krishna and Arjuna in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala State. Its more of a ritual conducted on the birthday of Arjuna, than a race event. The snake boats move in pairs to the rhythm of full-throated singing and shouting watched by an exciting crowd. In 1972, snake boat races were also added to the program of the festival. Thousands of people gather on the banks of the river Pampa to watch the snake boat races. In 2019 Fifty Two snake boats or Palliyodams had participated in the festival. The oarsmen sing traditional boat songs Vanchippattu and wear white mundu and turbans. The golden lace at the head of the boat, the flag and the ornamental umbrella at the center make it a show of pageantry too.
WThe Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF) is a biennial event held in Hobart Tasmania celebrating wooden boats. AWBF is held concurrently with the Royal Hobart Regatta. The festival welcomes wooden boats of all sizes including wooden canoes, kayaks and dinghies as well as yachts and tall ships.
WChristmas ships are boat parades held at Christmastime, typically featuring boats festooned with Christmas lights or winter/holiday decorations.
WThe Christmas Ships Parade, or Christmas Ship Parade, is an annual Christmas ships parade in Portland, Oregon, United States. The tradition was established by a single boat in 1954. The 57th annual parade was held in 2019.
WThe Crick Boat Show & Waterways Festival is an event that has been held annually at Crick Marina in Northamptonshire, England, since its inception in 2000.
WThe Darwin Beer Can Regatta is a festival event which has been held annually since 1974 in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia at Mindil Beach. The inaugural event had 63 entries and was attended by about 22,000 people which was about half of Darwin's population at the time.
WThe Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional holiday which occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional Chinese calendar.
WThe Hanse Sail in Rostock is the largest maritime festival in Mecklenburg (Germany) and one of the largest in Europe.
WThe Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York is an annual sporting and multicultural event held in August on Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York to celebrate the fifth moon of the lunar calendar. In addition to providing audiences with traditional Chinese foods and performances, the festival, now in its 18th year, hosts over 150 dragon boat teams from across North America, making it one of the largest dragon boat festivals in the United States. Depending on the competitive division, teams compete for cash prizes or airline tickets.
WThe Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival takes place in June in Middlewich, Cheshire, England. The festival builds on the town's industrial heritage in which canal boats were used to move coal and other raw materials in the town for the production of salt, and then move the salt out of town, either for use directly, or as a raw material in the manufacture of chemicals such as chlorine and soda ash.
WThe Newport Beach Wooden Boat Festival is an annual event held at the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California. The festival celebrates wooden boats of all sizes including wooden canoes, kayaks, and dinghies, as well as yachts and tall ships.
WThe Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival is an annual festival of dragon boat races in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Begun in 1994, the festival attracts 5,500 paddlers, 200 teams and over 75,000 spectators from all around the world. It is one of the largest dragon boat festivals in North America. The event is held in Mooney's Bay, where the Rideau River and Rideau Canal split. Mooney's Bay is where many of the Ottawa-based teams train, using the Rideau Canoe Club facilities. The festival was most recently held in 2019. The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
WThe Patigi Regatta Fest founded in 1949 but first took place in 1952. It is a Pategi Emirate boating event in Nigeria featuring the boating races, fishing and swimming.
WQintong Boat Festival is an annual event in Jiangyan, Jiangsu, China.
WSeafair is a summer festival in Seattle, Washington, that encompasses a wide variety of small neighborhood events leading up to several major citywide celebrations. While many small block parties and local parades occur under the auspices of Seafair, most Seattle residents associate Seafair with the Torchlight Parade, Seafair Cup hydroplane races, and the Blue Angels. Seafair has been an annual event in Seattle since 1950 but its roots can be traced to the 1911 Seattle Golden Potlatch Celebrations.
WThe Spirit Boat Procession is an event celebrated in various places in Nagasaki prefecture, Japan. It is part of the Bon Festival. During the event, the souls of the deceased are mourned and sent off.