Thousands of spectators and paddlers have descended on Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui promenade to cheer and compete as the 50th anniversary of the city’s annual International Dragon Boat Races gets under way.

More than 220 teams from 16 jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, Australia and Qatar, are competing in the two-day event starting on Saturday, drawing tourists and locals alike to cheer on their favourite teams as they race across Victoria Harbour.

Visitors to the harbourfront lauded the “well organised” and “really fun” event while local dragon boat racers described the competition as more intense than in previous years, which they attributed to the increasing popularity of the sport.

Francis Tang Lam Tat, the 71-year-old chairman of the dragon boat racing team Hytera, called this year’s races “very competitive” compared with previous years.

He said the two mixed teams that Hytera fielded this year had made it through to the semi-finals and he hoped that at least one would make it to the finals.

“Everyone is preparing well for this race,” he said. “Because it's the 50th anniversary, [the organisers] sent invitations to dragon boat teams around the world asking them to come to Hong Kong.”