🇹🇼How does Taiwan mark Dragon Boat Festival?

端午節

Local date

June 9, 2027

When is it?

The 5th day of the 5th lunar month; the Gregorian calendar date varies each year

In Taiwan the Dragon Boat Festival is a paid public holiday under the Act on Commemorative Days and Holidays, falling on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, so its Gregorian date moves each year. The common parts are wrapping and eating zongzi, dragon boat races, hanging mugwort and calamus, and wearing scented pouches; some people only stand an egg upright at noon. It is also one of the three major festivals, so the homecoming and the family meal often outweigh the ritual. How far a household takes it varies a great deal. Duanwu is also one of the three annual festivals in Taiwan, standing with Mid-Autumn and Lunar New Year as a point at which accounts are settled and gift boxes sent — a commercial meaning that has nothing to do with boats yet is another reason the day is remembered each year. Household practice adds standing an egg on its end and drawing noon water around midday; neither needs a river, so both continue in cities with no race at all.