London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival

Forty teams from across the country will compete for four cups and top honours at the UK's biggest Chinese sport and culture outdoor event. For the uninitiated, the overall effect looks something like the Oxbridge teams have taken a wrong turn and ended up in Chinatown. Teams of 20 sit one behind the other in boats with decorative dragonheads and tails and paddle their hearts out in time with a drummer at the helm. Non-rowers can entertain themselves between rounds with a food festival, live music, martial arts displays and traditional Chinese lion dancing.