On June 6th (last Saturday), the parking lot of West Valley College in Saratoga was filled with the festive atmosphere of Dragon Boat Festival. The “2026 Dragon Boat Festival Carnival” organized by the Asian American Better Community Association (AABC) was held lively, attracting many Bay Area residents to participate and experience the traditional Chinese cultural festival through traditional performances, parent-child activities, and food stalls.
The event featured over thirty booths, covering educational information, cultural handicrafts, health services, food and beverages, as well as community resources. The booths included activities from Little Sapling School, Hanfu clothing, essential oil sachets, calligraphy, bubble tea keychains, and agrotainment. The Santa Clara County Fire Department, League of Women Voters, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scout groups were also in attendance, allowing people to not only enjoy the performances but also experience activities, learn about community resources, and interact with various groups.
Food stalls offered cold noodles, meat buns, soy sauce eggs, grilled skewers, cotton candy, corn on the cob, zongzi, and various special drinks, attracting many people to stop and taste. The stage performances were also diverse, including kindergarten student performances, Chinese language center student performances, Hanfu fashion shows, interactive line dances, and performances by the Silicon Valley Band, creating a lively atmosphere for the event.
Speaking of the founding purpose of the event, AABC founder Chen Chaoquan said that the Dragon Boat Festival event was initially aimed at fostering more connections between Taiwanese Americans, the Saratoga city government, and the local community, and using the Dragon Boat Festival as an important platform to promote Taiwanese culture and Chinese traditional festivals. He mentioned that the Dragon Boat Festival has distinct folk customs and is easier for American people to understand.
Co-founder of AABC, Lai Shuna, stated that this year’s event was larger in scale and more lively, featuring a variety of food stalls, band performances, as well as exciting programs brought by school teachers, students, and children. She expressed gratitude to all participants and volunteers for their efforts in making the event colorful and hoped to continue holding Dragon Boat Festival celebrations to promote Chinese culture and allow Saratoga and Bay Area residents to better understand this important traditional festival.
High Hui-ling from the Silicon Valley Band mentioned that this year’s event included new features such as Hanfu qipao displays, calligraphy, essential oils, and children’s crafts. She emphasized that the event has been held for the fifth consecutive year and has gradually become a representative cultural festival in Saratoga’s community.
In terms of the municipal government, Saratoga Vice Mayor Tina Walia expressed her delight in participating in the 5th Dragon Boat Festival celebration and thanked the organizers and volunteers for their dedicated efforts over the years in organizing cultural activities to unite the community. Since the event’s inception in 2022, she has never missed it and acknowledged the active participation and service of the Asian American community in building the community spirit.
Saratoga City Council member Zhao Yan mentioned that this year’s Dragon Boat Festival was particularly meaningful as it was officially recognized by the California legislative body. She pointed out that this symbolizes the integration of Chinese heritage and culture into California and community life. She appreciated AABC for bringing tradition, culture, history, and holiday joy to the community to be shared with the people.
One of the participants in the performance, Zhong Siwen, a student from the Taiwan Chinese Language Learning Center (TCML), mentioned that he has been learning Chinese for five years and finds it to be a unique but somewhat challenging language that requires perseverance. He participated in the Chinese language center performance and sang Jay Chou’s song “Silence.” He expressed his love for Jay Chou’s music and his excitement, nervousness, and happiness about participating in the Dragon Boat Festival event.
Wang Qianlong from the agrotainment booth stated that in line with the Dragon Boat Festival, the booth featured lemongrass, pineapple mint, pineapple tomato, Brazilian celery, green peppers, and chili seedlings, introducing the use of lemongrass in dishes like scrambled eggs with lemongrass, lemongrass sauce, and XO sauce. He mentioned that farmers rallied through group calls, and friends interested in each brought their home-grown produce to share with the people, turning what was initially one booth into two, attracting many passersby.
In the food and game stalls, Chen Peilan, the president of the Northern California Tamkang University Alumni Association, mentioned that their booth prepared freshly made rice balls, Taiwanese-style sausage toast, beverages, and more, with the 4-dollar rice ball portion being especially popular among the people. The booth also featured a nostalgic “one-dollar stamping fun” game, attracting many children to participate.