Dragon boat racing is born out of a 2000 -year-old Chinese legend and will be on full display this weekend in Calgary.

Hundreds from across the province will compete in the Calgary Dragon Boat Race and Festival at North Glenmore Park.

Co-organizer Danny Ng said the city edition is putting an emphasis on authentic vessels.

“We just purchased some boats from China and these meet international standards for dragon boats,” he said.

He added the legend deals with a corruption fighter in China, who committed suicide by jumping into a river.

“He was such a popular guy that everybody started looking for and they would paddle in the water, trying to look for him and that’s kind of how the story goes.”

The festival runs Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Premier Alison Redford will be a special guest on Sunday, kicking off a charity race at noon.