The Dragon Fest was once a day time summer event, focused on the Chinatown portion. Because of COVID this year, it's instead evolved into a day and night C-ID Night Market, representing all of Chinatown-International District - an 8-hour event from 1pm to 9pm. I must say I am impressed with the turnout. While it has always been well attended, we arrived at 8:50pm, expecting to see a mostly closed street fair. Instead, all the booths are still hopping. Shoppers are shopping, and eaters are ordering food and drinks. There may have been such a HUGE turnout that the food lines were very long. When we arrived so late, the vendors were still merrily cooking while some food trucks had "sold out" stickers on selected items. How exciting for them to make up for the losses during COVID closures. As this is a C-ID market, the crowds gravitating towards the booths that sold cute Asian themed items, east Asian to be exact. Food choices were also predominately Asian, including SE Asian. I am not complaining. Hehe. The food truck that caught my attention is YS Street Food Group selling their Sizzling Squid at $12. I also bought a Thai Iced Tea at $4. It's been at least 2 years since I had their well marinating tongue numbing mala squid. It's also very tender. I love it! Folks were buying 3 or more of them! Their Thai iced tea is quite good too, not too sweet and flavorful. Even though we just had a big dinner, we managed to consume more. LOL! read more

Dragon Fest - 9pm crowd! - Festivals Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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For what could have become a hectic food festive the people who organized the event did a great job. There were performances every 30 minutes and the groups that performed clearly practiced and put on a show. There were a lot of places to eat and the food walk that offered $3 menu options were awesome. I was so happy to be able to try places like Tai tung and kau kau bbq which were places on my list. There were a lot of vendors and stalls and I was super impressed by the dragon dances! One thing I will say is I think they would do a lot better if they put their informational booth more prominently as a lot of people asked me where to get the maps and food walk pamphlets I was looking at in passing. Overall will be back next year! read more

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Small and repetitive but something new to try each time. Moves locations each weekend so it will be an accessible to all.

Every neighborhood festival should duplicate what Dragon Fest does. Several local restaurants offers a three dollar food sample for those attending the festival, which allows you to check out restaurants you wouldn't necessarily have gone to before. It was a great way of exploring the neighborhood and finding spots to come back to when I'm in the International District again. Plus, the map provided by the informational booth and volunteers has a section for stamps. If you visit five restaurants and collect stamps you can return the map back to the informational booth for a drawing, to win Delta airline tickets. It's a great incentive and reminds you of the key sponsors for Dragon Fest. In addition to exploring the neighborhood restaurants there is a main stage where you can watch different cultural performances like dance and sing. There's also several different vendors from non-profits in the area to retail and artists that are lined up on King Street, so the road is closed off, which is helpful for all the festival-goers. Dragon Fest is an annual festival that occurs for an entire weekend in July. I suggest public transportation if you're visiting, especially since the bus station is right by King Street where the entrance to the festival is. I went on a Sunday in the late afternoon and it wasn't terribly busy or crowded, especially when you visit the restaurants. Overall - Dragon Fest is a great way to check out the diverse and wonderful Asian businesses in the International District. read more

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Have to say of the six festivals that I attended last week, the Dragon Fest was my favorite. This is an event that has gotten better in the last couple years. Like other neighborhood festivals, there are street booths. Since this is the ID, the stands were distinctly of an Asian origin. But the big improvement is with the introduction of food trucks and stands along with the large performance stage with seating. This is in addition to the large number of retailers and eateries already functioning in the area. The dim sum-esque $2 food walk is great because you get to try foods from numerous restaurants in the area. Because you have to go to the storefront to find this deal, it introduces you to the business. Participating in this event is good for the restaurant because it could lead to return business for patrons attending who would never thought otherwise to visit previously. The festival happens over two days. The Saturday program has a bit more stuff. There is a $2 drink special event at a few participating eateries in the evening. And the festival organizers introduced a dance party event this year. Though since there are so many festivals happening around town, Sunday would be better if you would prefer to go when there is less of a crowd. Plus the fact that parking is free on Sunday. As far as street festivals go in Seattle, this is the closest one to what one would like in Asia, though it is not very close to them really aside from it being an Asian event. Dragon Fest is very much worth attending because it offers plenty of local flavor and cheap tasty food. read more

Had an awesome time. Had a really great time exploring. Always on the hunt for something out of the ordinary. There is also performances like DRAGON/LION dancers which I love. If you can brave the sweltering heat then you LOVE it! This is a great event to go to for everyone! If you can brave the sweltering heat then you LOVE it! I highly suggest everyone to come check this festival out next year if you're in the area. Overall good entertainment. read more

Dragon Fest - Festivals Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I loved it. This is my first year there and will definitely be coming back. There is lots to see and the performances are awesome. There was the break dancing school performing and other performance. At night it had a raving party. This is interesting and want expected. The event ran till midnight. I have to say it is in a pretty good location and very central for everyone. I got a Macdonald gift card from their booth and as well a Macdonald toy and bag. There are also a food cart night market attached to the dragon fest I am looking forward to next year dragon fest. Glad I came out. read more

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Dragon dances are real cool! But this Dragon Fest was just ok for me. Its the Dragon Fest and Night Market all combined into one. Its mainly the gift shops etc in Chinatown setting up a table on the street selling the same thing they would in the store. Nothing really piqued my interest so mainly I just looked for a sec and kept walking. As for food, there are a lot of good options here, from satay skewers, a plethora of food trucks all lined up, milk tea drinks for a few bucks, plate specials with rice/noodles etc, fruit cups, sweet treats and much more. Music stage and beer garden set up as well for entertainment. I really enjoyed the guy selling the state of the art vegetable peeler demonstration. Oh my!!!! It does get quite crowded so be ready to bump n' grind with a fellow stranger as you make your way through the crowd. Some closed off streets making it a little easier but not much. Parking is atrocious so definitely take public transport. read more

Dragon Fest - Dragon Fest festival - Festivals Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Dragon Fest is always a fun time! I've been going for years. What's not to love about a lion and dragon dance? Ummmm...NOTHING! What about taiko drumming? Awesome! There's many more types of entertainment that happen on the Dragon Stage. Come early if you don't want to pay for parking! You can get 2-hour parking free in some areas and it is absolutely free in others. We got there at 11:30am (before a 12pm opening) and snagged a free spot. For years, there have been food trucks here and it's a great way to experience a few at a time. For instance, Xplosive, Chopstix, Box Nature Sushi, and Tokyo Dog were on site. I missed The Box this year. In addition to food trucks, there are other food vendors. Some of my favorites are Espi's, Beanfish, and Pink's. Whether you're looking for takoyaki or pancit, they've got you covered. One of the true highlights of the day is the $2 food walk. My tip to you is grab your guide when you first arrive. Make a decision about what food you want. Decide whether it is worth standing in line or not. Split up with a group of friends (each buy a $2 bite) and meet up to share. I do not buy everyone's $2 bite. Some of them are simply not worth it. McDonald's is a headlining sponsor and always has something big, that comes with a long line. Today, it was their sample smoothies and goodie bags. Ronald McDonald also hung out at Hing Hay Park. The night wraps up with a party and a happy hour. Fun times and at $2 a drink plus a disco ball, well, that sounds like a great time to me! read more

Stumbled upon this festival during a stop on our road trip. So cool! Dragon dancers, monks and nuns, traditional music, food trucks, and a whole lot of other knick knacks and cultural goodies. Will definitely be coming back up to Seattle for this festival next year! read more

Fun! Although the only thing I did was eat the street food. There was $2 milk tea, dim sum stands, thai ice tea ice cream, taiyaki and more! I brought my dog and he made a few friends at the dog-friendly event. Luckily it wasn't too crowded in the day time or he might've felt overwhelmed. For parking, we parked at Uwajimaya and bought enough groceries to cover the parking fees. Basically if you enjoy Asian food, you should check out Dragon Fest or the upcoming Night Market in the International District. Just be aware parking might be hard to find, and there may be large crowds which cause long lines. read more

Lots of great food. Some of Seattle's best food trucks AND the local restaurants are serving $1 and $2 finger food. Dozens of great options for grazing! As for festivals in Seattle, this one is smaller, it's not in City Center, and it has LOTS more good food options! For foodies, this is a festival not to miss. The kids had a blast, it was easy to get in and out on public transportation, and it wasn't too expensive. The entertainment was also great. I think the "Dragon" element of the festival could have been played up a lot more (we didn't even see an actual dragon or lion performance) but other than that, it was great fun! Recommended! read more

This year they said they expanded the food options to stay open later after all the festivities from 8-12. I went mainly to check out the food vendors at 8 and there were already places that were out of food already. Why have a special food event if your vendors are out of food. Obviously they didn't prepare themselves well for serving at a food fair read more

$2 food items, dragon dances, and free goodies .. This is a must come event! It's a great way to support the Chinese community and see the culture and traditions that Chinese people still try to maintain and pass on down to the generations. Street parking is limited but this event is worth seeing. Just check out the event schedule online and also save the $2 food items picture to your cellphone. read more

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This is the second year in a row that we've been to Dragon Fest. My wife loves the dancing and drumming. I must say that I enjoy it too. It's just too bad it only happens once a year. This time we brought our son and his GF. Unfortunately, the 2 dollar bites are a killer for him. He is highly allergic to MSG and they all use ample amounts of it. We finally ended up ad Kau Kau BBQ and requested food for him with no MSG. read more

3.5 stars I have mixed feelings about the Dragon Fest. There's so many fun summer festivals in Seattle- pretty much one for every neighborhood. I think Dragon Fest may be one of the newer ones. For such a vibrant neighborhood, I think the festival has some work to do on attracting more people and vendors. I loved the idea of the $2 bites but I found the scavenger hunt for them really annoying. It was also annoying that there were no guides or anything so I had to pull it up on a smart phone and wander around. I couldn't even find the crepe place and we ended up giving up. We pretty much just ended up eating in the food truck area. With that said, I always love enjoy coming out and seeing and supporting the Asian community, its interesting businesses and seeing what projects everyone is working on. There's so many hidden gems from the Chinese florists to the local ethnic papers to the bars, hole-in-the-walls, bakeries and home decor stores in Chinatown/International District. I brought a friend who never comes down to the ID and I really hope events like this will help bring people like him here more often. read more

Not a bad effort for a Seattle night market. There were quite a few food vendors but a lot of them are International district establishments that you can visit anytime. Overall, it was a fun stroll through the festival to see the hustle bustle but the only thing I ate that stood out was some delicious durian ice cream. The main-stage had some interesting acts and it was great to see the local communities display their talent. read more