Lake Lewisville's First Dragon Boat Festival Hits the Water Today!!

Lake Lewisville's First Dragon Boat Festival Hits the Water Next Weekend

If your weekend plans are still blank, here's a reason to drive to Highland Village Road. The inaugural Lake Lewisville Dragon Boat Festival runs June 26–27 at Copperas Branch Park — and it's exactly the kind of event that either becomes the thing south Denton County does every summer, or quietly disappears after year one.

The format is straightforward: teams paddle long, drum-led boats across Lake Lewisville in head-to-head races. If you've never seen one, it's louder and faster than you'd expect. Food, a full festival atmosphere, and a live set from George Dunham and the Bird Dogs round out both days. Proceeds benefit Serve Denton, the nonprofit that connects south Denton County residents with food, shelter, and community services.

Copperas Branch Park sits on about 75 acres of Lake Lewisville shoreline, leased from the US Army Corps of Engineers — which means it was already built for exactly this kind of water event. Boat ramp, beach, parking lot. The bones are right. What nobody knows yet is whether the crowd shows up to match.

That's the honest question with any inaugural event. Dragon boat racing has been growing steadily in Texas cities, but a first-year festival with no track record is still a bet. The organizers are betting that south Denton County families — who otherwise have to drive to Dallas or Fort Worth for anything this specific — will show up when something lands in their backyard. Serve Denton's name attached gives it credibility. George Dunham's band gives people a reason to stay past the last heat.

Races on Saturday start at 8:00 AM. Check lakelewisvilledragonboatfestival.com for team registration, spectator info, and anything that's changed since this went to press.

Watch the turnout. If the water is full and the lawn is full, someone will be back next year with a bigger budget. Half-empty on a June weekend with a live band and boat races on Lake Lewisville tells you something too.