Stockton will trade its usual quiet along the Mobile-Tensaw Delta for drumbeats and paddles this fall, when the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce hosts Baldwin County’s first dragon boat race at Live Oak Landing on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The inaugural Dragons on the Delta Boat Race was announced June 10, and organizers hope the event becomes a lasting fixture in the community calendar. Live Oak Landing on Live Oak Road will close to the public from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on race day. Opening ceremonies begin at 8 a.m., with the first race launch at 8:30 a.m. Admission is free, and organizers promise food, live entertainment and team spirit competitions throughout the morning.
“Dragons on the Delta is more than just a race — it is an opportunity to bring our community together in a fun and unique way while showcasing the beauty of North Baldwin County,” said Kristina Pittman, executive director of the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce.
An old sport returns to new water
Dragon boat racing traces its roots to southern China more than 2,000 years ago, where the long, narrow boats — carved with dragon heads and tails — were raced as part of festivals honoring the poet Qu Yuan. Today the sport has spread across the United States, with clubs and festivals from Seattle to Miami, and a standard crew typically numbers about 20 paddlers paired in seated rows, plus a drummer at the bow who keeps the stroke and a steersman at the stern.
The format is part athletic contest, part spectacle: teams race in heats over short courses, often 200 to 500 meters, with synchronized paddling and loud encouragement from the banks. Organizers say the format’s emphasis on teamwork and discipline makes it unusually well suited to corporate teams, churches, school groups and nonprofits looking for a signature event — no prior paddling experience required.
“We are thrilled to introduce dragon boat racing to our area and invite businesses, civic groups, nonprofits, and individuals to join us on the water,” Pittman said. “Whether you’re paddling, cheering from the shore, volunteering, or sponsoring the event, there is a place for everyone to be part of this exciting new tradition.”
Reviving a tradition Stockton lost
The event draws on an older Stockton tradition. In the years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the community hosted the Delta Dash, a popular 5K mud run complete with obstacles and mud pits that drew participants from across the region. The Dash was discontinued in 2021, and Chamber leaders have spent the years since looking for a way to bring a signature outdoor event back to the landing.
Live Oak Landing, a county park on the Tensaw River north of the causeway, has become one of North Baldwin’s most popular recreation sites, with a boat ramp, boardwalk and campground that put visitors directly on the edge of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta — the vast wetland complex often called America’s Amazon. Its waterways are calm, wide and well suited to the flat-bottomed dragon boats, which need only a few feet of depth to race.
How to get on the water
Team registration is now open, and sponsorship opportunities remain available, according to the Chamber. Businesses, civic groups, nonprofits and individuals can form a crew, sign up as volunteers, or sponsor a division of the race. Interested participants should contact the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce directly or register through its website.
Chamber officials say they hope the race becomes an annual draw that fills Stockton’s short-term lodging, restaurants and bait shops on a mid-October Saturday, much as the area’s existing festivals do across the rest of the county. For now, the focus is on the first launch: two months out, organizers are counting teams and training captains so that when the drums start at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 17, the Delta has a new sound.