One of the largest dragon boat races in North America was held in Vancouver on Saturday and Sunday, gathering more than 5,000 racers from over 200 teams.

This year's race in the southwestern Canadian city represented its 35th edition, with the races on the first day serving as a qualifier for the semi-finals and finals on the second day. Spectators were also drawn in by entertainment and activities that celebrated Chinese culture.

Dragon boat races were introduced in 1986 when Vancouver held the World Expo, making it one of the earliest such events on the continent.

Some of the rowers have been participating in the sport for more than two decades. According to these life-long racers, the draw of the sport is the need to work together in unity with teammates.

"Twenty people on the boat, all working together, so with a caller at the front and a steers at the back, and everybody needs to be in time. Everybody needs to be focused. Everybody has to be on the race plan," said Joan Taylor, one of the racers from Canada.

Other rowers emphasized both the race and the festival as opportunities to learn about Chinese culture, and in particular, about the history of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, which honors legendary poet Qu Yuan, who was also a minister of the State of Chu during the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC). The poet tragically drowned himself in the Miluo River after he was accused of treason and banished for his well-intended advice to the king.

"We've been up to this festival many many times. The timing of the event is a celebration of the fifth day of the fifth moon. We enjoy it. There's a lot of cultural aspects to it, as well as the competition and the sporting aspect of it. Especially the dragon dance is a funny event for everybody. And then hitting of the drum when you're on the boat, all relate to the original legend way back in China thousands of years ago," said Leslie Blythe, a US racer.

Attendees at the festival also enjoyed live music and gained first-hand cultural experiences by learning to write Chinese characters and even making zongzi, a pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves that is traditionally eaten in China during the Dragon Boat Festival.

"There's so much beautiful cultural history with it. We have the lion dances, the dragon dances, the painting of the eyes [on the dragon boat head], the history, and people want to learn about it," said Sara Carroll, a Chinese racer in the festival.