The 2012 beast sported “dragon breath.” Cornelliana Oi! Oi! Oi! Dragon Day Marks 125 Years of Beautiful Beasts Stories You May Like Founded by Undergrads, Service Groups Are Still Going Strong Meet the Alum Who Helped Bring ‘Heated Rivalry’ to TV Screens David Hackney ’87 Traces His Career in Public Service Back to Lessons Learned on the Hill Fueled by first-year architecture students, the March celebration has been a rite of spring for generations of alumni Editor's note: This story is an anniversary update to our historical feature from 2023. By Cornellians Staff Move over, bunnies and leprechauns: on East Hill, the other spring holidays take a backseat to a fantastic festival that’s quintessentially Cornellian—one that’s marking its 125th anniversary this year. For a century and a quarter, the campus community has celebrated the advent of mid-semester break with Dragon Day, a rite of spring that has long been a rite of passage for first-year architecture students. A horse and buggy power the dragon in the early 1900s. This year’s event, scheduled for March 27, will be based around the theme “veiled.” The design, AAP says, will involve "tensile fabric veiled over a concealed structural frame." But until the dragon’s public debut, only the students know the full character of the magnificent mythical beast. Like generations of Big Red architects before them, the first-years will cap weeks of intense work by triumphantly parading their creation across campus to great revelry, amid chants of “Dragon! Dragon! Dragon! Oi! Oi! Oi!” Even the A.D. White statue (here in 2009) gets decked out for the occasion. The 2018 phoenix enjoys an elevated perch. In 2013, a blank white dragon was doused with colorful paint en route. Toilet paper litters the Arts Quad in 1996. The phoenix in 2013. A “dragon’s egg” was set aflame in 2009. The phoenix in 2014. The dragon crew in 2016. The heads of previous dragons, on exhibit in Sibley Dome in 2015. The 2015 phoenix was hand-held. Putting the finishing touches on the 1984 dragon’s pearly whites. Some years, engineering students have also created a phoenix to do “battle” with the dragon—symbolizing the traditional rivalry between the two professions—as the parade passes the Engineering Quad. Physics students have even gotten in on the fun by crafting their own fantastical creature, a unicorn. For decades—before the advent of environmental sustainability concerns and state limitations on open burning—the event culminated in the dragon being set ablaze, generally in the middle of the Arts Quad. Two vertical versions from the 1980s. (Now, it’s merely disassembled, and the parts often reused.) In the week or so leading up to Dragon Day, good-natured interdepartmental pranks have long been de rigueur—as have some less benign ones, including (as legend has it) the release of a green-painted pig in the Ivy Room in the mid-1960s, prompting a massive food fight. (Note: Cornellians does not endorse this! Don’t release pigs or throw food! And while we’re at it: keep that TP on the roll where it belongs, not dangling from trees on the Arts Quad!) The dragon passes by Sibley Hall in 1970 ... ... and parades through campus in 2024. Other traditions include a costumed “nerd walk” and the so-called “green streak”—which, in days of yore, may have involved actual streaking, but in recent decades has meant the more modest use of body paint. However the details have evolved from one generation to another, the occasion remains fabulously festive. In the week or so leading up to Dragon Day, good-natured interdepartmental pranks have long been de rigueur. Sometimes its design is fairly abstract, other times more representational—but it’s always a huge hit with the crowd. Stories You May Like Founded by Undergrads, Service Groups Are Still Going Strong Meet the Alum Who Helped Bring ‘Heated Rivalry’ to TV Screens The architects’ eye-popping talents are on vivid display. Students dress up in elaborate homemade costumes, and the parade draws throngs of admirers—including many faculty and staff (and, often, their very excited kids), lining the route and gleefully following behind the beast. The beast gives side-eye in 2005, and a flaming dragon on a snowy day. The dragon itself—a massive creation stretching as much as 100 feet long and operated by a veritable army of architects—is a labor of Big Red love, representing untold hours of effort and enormous creativity. “Our college is such a small section of Cornell, but this is such a major event,” notes Jenn Michael, AAP’s senior director of student experience. “I think alumni really appreciate that students are carrying on something that’s been around for a long time and are still super dedicated to it.” Alumni really appreciate that students are carrying on something that’s been around for a long time and are still super dedicated to it. Jenn Michael, AAP’s senior director of student experience Dragon Day traces its roots to none other than the namesake of Cornell’s student union: AAP alum Willard Straight 1901, who founded it during his senior spring as a venue for celebrating architecture on the Hill. Originally observed on St. Patrick’s Day, it involved decking out Lincoln Hall (then the college’s home) with shamrocks, orange-and-green banners, and—later—serpents, representing the beasts that St. Patrick drove out of Ireland. An early 1900s entry seems part centipede. In the dragon’s mouth in 2006. Aflame on the Arts Quad in 2005. President Frank H.T. Rhodes at the 1993 parade. In 2007, a bamboo-like beast. An abstract design in 2014. The 2006 dragon came complete with a model of Rand Hall. A burning beast in 2005. An abstract creation for 2017. On parade in 1981. A pointy-beaked beast in 2002. Chanting the traditional refrain in 2015. A toothy grin in 2016. A minimalist creation in 2022. A two-toned creation in 2010. A Jazz Age dragon in 1927. In 1979, an angry-looking incarnation. President Skorton gets up close in 2010. Shiny scales in 2019. The guest of honor in 1995. Extinguishing the blaze. Channelling the dragon’s spirit in 2018. Propelling the beast in 2009. In the 1950s, serpents evolved into dragons, and the event became the joyful jamboree beloved by modern-day alums. Since 2013, Dragon Day has been celebrated the Friday before Spring Break, due to a change in the academic calendar that shifted the break to the last week of March. Dragon Day traces its roots to none other than the namesake of Cornell’s student union: AAP alum Willard Straight 1901. (For decades prior, the event had taken place on St. Patrick’s Day or the day before Spring Break, whichever came first.) Sadly, Dragon Day had to be skipped for two years due to COVID—but it came roaring back in 2022, with a stripped-down, two-headed beast constructed of recycled materials, including repurposed paper and wooden pallets. Who Needs Halloween? “It’s so great for students to be able to say that they’re doing the same thing that people did 100 years ago,” Michael observes. “They’re so talented and creative, and they really take it seriously. They know they’re carrying on this tradition that’s been around for a very long time.” Top: The 2012 beast sports “dragon breath.” (Archival images courtesy of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning and Rare and Manuscript Collections; recent dragons and campus scenes by Cornell University photographers.) Published March 5, 2026 What’s your favorite Dragon Day memory? Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Cornelliana ‘Meet You at the Straight!’: Beloved Student Union Celebrates a Century Campus & Beyond ILR’s Worker Institute Helps Guide a Newly Energized Labor Movement Campus & Beyond Peek Inside the Galleries at AAP’s Freedom of Expression Show