{"id":69531,"date":"2026-03-30T16:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=69531"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:47:08","slug":"dragon-day-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragon Day Marks its 125th Anniversary, in Roaring Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A photographic look at the celebration of this year’s mighty beast\u2014an abstract creation that allowed admirers an interior view<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Beth Saulnier<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography by Devin Flores<\/strong>, Jason Koski<\/strong> & Ryan Young<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Hill, the truest sign of spring isn’t tulips or daffodils\u2014it’s a gargantuan creature designed, built, and propelled by first-year architecture students. And this year’s Dragon Day<\/a> beast was a historic one: it marked the 125th anniversary of the iconic event, which traces its roots to a St. Patrick’s Day celebration organized by none other than Willard Straight 1901<\/a> during his senior spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As per tradition, the behemoth was transported through campus to chants of Dragon, dragon, dragon! Oi, oi, oi!<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Provost
Dignitaries on the parade route included Provost Kavita Bala …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Touchdown,
… and Touchdown, sporting his own official event shirt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It faced off against\u2014and did symbolic battle with\u2014a phoenix built by freshman engineers. And as in recent years, a glittering silver unicorn (made by physics students) also made an appearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, few details about the dragon were disclosed before the big day, though AAP hinted that it would be based around the theme \u201cveiled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The guest of honor proved to have a stripped-down design<\/a>, with translucent black material stretched over a frame of orange-colored wood; its curvilinear head sported an intimidating set of chompers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few details about the dragon were disclosed before the big day, though AAP hinted that it would be based around the theme \u201cveiled.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a novel offering, once the dragon reached the Arts Quad, parts of its body flipped open to become a tunnel\u2014allowing admirers to file through its exoskeleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, of course, it met the fate of its predecessors in being destroyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern environmental regulations, however, require that it’s no longer burned, but merely disassembled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a photographic tour of Dragon Day 2026!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propelling the Beast<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dragon on Parade<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Hundreds<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

An Energetic Crowd<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Three<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Four<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Hundreds<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Costumes Galore<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Hundreds<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Phoenix & Unicorn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Two<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Look Inside<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Published March 30, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A photographic look at the celebration of this year’s mighty beast\u2014an abstract creation that allowed admirers an interior view<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":69509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[227],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-69531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-beyond"],"yoast_head":"\nDragon Day Marks its 125th Anniversary, in Roaring Style - Cornellians | Cornell University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A photographic look at the celebration of this year's mighty beast\u2014an abstract creation that allowed admirers an interior view\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dragon Day Marks its 125th Anniversary, in Roaring Style - Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A photographic look at the celebration of this year's mighty beast\u2014an abstract creation that allowed admirers an interior view\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cornellians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T20:47:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T20:47:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/2026_1113_JK_040-C.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beth Saulnier\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\"},\"headline\":\"Dragon Day Marks its 125th Anniversary, in Roaring Style\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-30T20:47:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T20:47:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/\"},\"wordCount\":337,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/2026_1113_JK_040-C.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Campus & Beyond\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/dragon-day-2026\/\",\"name\":\"Dragon Day Marks its 125th Anniversary, in Roaring Style - 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