Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival 2026

The 29th Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival takes Saturday, August 15, 2026, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at DCR Lowell Heritage State Park and Sampas Pavilion on the Merrimack River. It is free.

This is Lowell's river day for Cambodian, Lao, Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian communities that rebuilt here after the war years. The festival preserves water blessings, boat races, and performance traditions that predate the city's tech-and-arts rebranding. People come from well outside Greater Boston; Lowell's Cambodian American population is among the largest on the East Coast.

Expect races on the river, two stages, a demonstration tent, food and merchandise booths, and artisan crafts. Lowell National Historical Park runs a free riverboat ride. Park first-come at Regatta Festival Field, 381 Pawtucket Boulevard. The riverbank packs by noon. Bring shade; August on the Merrimack has almost no cover once you leave the pavilion.

If you usually only do Chinatown and Quincy, this is the Saturday that belongs to Lowell. Films at the Gate works if you can do Friday night downtown. Sunday's Quincy August Moon Festival is a different outing across the South Shore.

The water festival frame is Buddhist and folk tradition adapted for a New England riverbank: blessings, community gathering, and boat competition as public memory of Southeast Asian homelands. Food booths skew Cambodian and Lao with Vietnamese and Thai vendors mixed in.

Who this is for: Southeast Asian families, Lowell residents, and festival hunters who want a river setting unlike street fairs on Coddington or Harrison Avenue. Wear sunscreen and shoes that handle grass and gravel.

Our take: park early at Regatta Field, catch morning boat races, eat before 2 p.m. stage changeovers. Lowell is worth the drive from Boston if you have never done a water festival north of Chinatown.

When: August 15, 2026, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Where: DCR Lowell Heritage State Park / Sampas Pavilion, Lowell, MA

Details on lsawaterfestival.org.