Dragons get the zoomies, too: Since 1989, the Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Races have brought a thrilling Chinese tradition to Tom McCall Waterfront Park, where 45 teams will get set to compete again this year with ferocious, colorful boats provided by the longstanding Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association. (The Dragon Boat Festival has its roots in ancient China—think 278 BCE—and began when the virtuous advisor and "people's poet" Qu Yuan drowned, becoming a water spirit that needed to be appeased by divine, energetic dragons.) Catch the indisputably cool component of the Rose Festival from viewing spots on the shoreline. by Lindsay Costello