Festivals · Wed 28 Oct 2026
Sarawak Regatta 2026: race weekend on the Kuching Waterfront, 30 October to 1 November
The Sarawak Regatta takes over the Sarawak River at the Kuching Waterfront this Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November 2026, with 43 races across local and open categories and the Raja Sungai Cup decided on the Sunday.
It starts this Friday. After a week of waterfront festival programmes, the Sarawak Regatta itself runs on the Sarawak River at the Kuching Waterfront from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November 2026. Sarawak Tourism's official regatta programme lists 43 races in local and open categories, and the listing on this site, checked against that programme, records the event as free.
How the three days run
Friday is heats day, with 13 heats. Saturday 31 October brings 12 more heats and the first 3 finals. Sunday 1 November is the day to be on the waterfront: 15 finals, closing with the Raja Sungai Cup, the King of the River race that settles the regatta. Alongside the racing, the Festival Gendang Melayu Sarawak runs on the same three days, with traditional Malay drum performances, Bermukun, sape music and buskers along the waterfront.
The week that led into it
The wider festival opened on Friday 23 October with the 12th Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta, raced from 23 to 25 October with about 80 teams and 2,450 participants across seven categories and RM200,000 in cash prizes, plus a run of nightly cultural programmes through the week. The Sarawak Entrepreneur Showcase and the Festival Kraf Borneo Sarawak, with local food, craft sales and live demonstrations, run the full stretch from 23 October to 1 November, so the waterfront is busy well beyond the race hours.
Watching it
Stay on the Kuching Waterfront itself and the regatta is your weekend: the hotels along the river face the old town behind them, and the racing is on the water in front. Kuching is Sarawak's capital and the natural base for the trip in any case. If you can only pick one day, pick Sunday, and get to the waterfront early for the finals.
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