The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanwu Festival, occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar. The exact date varies from year to year on the Gregorian calendar. The festival was long marked as a cultural festival in China, the government, however, did not officially recognize Duanwu as a public holiday until 2008.
The official English name for the holiday, 'Dragon Boat Festival,' directly translates into two alternative Chinese names for the holiday, Lóngchuánjié and Lóngzhōujié. Among Malaysian, Singaporean people, the festival is also known as the 'Fifth Month Festival,' the 'Fifth Day Festival,' and the 'Dumpling Festival.' In Indonesian, the festival is known as 'Peh Cun', which is derived from the Hokkien phrase（扒船).
“端午节”的英文名称表述为：Dragon Boat Festival，因为选取端午节中的核心意像—— “龙舟 (dragon boat)” 作为节日的名字，十分形象生动，也很好记。再比如“中秋节”，很多老外都喜欢“Mooncake Festival”的这样的名字，即“月饼节”。
端午节的日期为中国农历五月初五，用英文表示就是：5th day of 5th month in Chinese Lunar Calendar， 中国传统节日都是按照“农历”来计算的，而“农历”就是按照月亮的圆缺周期来制定的，所以被称为“Lunar Calendar”，即“月亮的历法”；而跟“农历”相对的“公立”是按照太阳的运行规律来制定，故被称为“Solar Calendar”，也叫做“the Gregorian calendar”。
端午节的起源
The story best known in modern China holds that the festival commemorates the death of the poet Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) of the ancient state of Chu during the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty. A cabinet member of the Chu royal house, Qu Yuan served in high offices.
However, when the king decided to ally with the increasingly powerful state of Qin, Qu was banished for opposing the alliance and even accused of treason. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry. Twenty-eight years later, Qin captured Ying, the Chu capital. In despair, Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River.
It is said that the local people, who admired him, raced out in their boats to save him or at least retrieve his body. This is said to have been the origin of dragon boat races. When his body could not be found, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan's body. This is said to be the origin of zongzi.
端午节被认为是为了纪念屈原的节日，除了屈原之外，部分地区也有纪念伍子胥、曹娥等说法。
长久以来，粽子的英文一直没有个固定的说法，有人说 rice dumpling（米团），有人仔细一点，称之为 sticky rice dumpling（糯米团），传统的汉英词典更只诉诸冗长的解释。这些尝试笼统含糊，有如隔靴搔痒，容易让人搞不清所指为何，也都没有受到权威英英词典的认可。
世界上最大最权威的《牛津英语词典》（The Oxford English Dictionary）已经将 jiaozi（饺子）、baozi（包子）、mantou（馒头）纳入，确立其在英文的法定地位。「粽子」当然可循前例，用主流的汉语拼音转写，精简地音译为 zongzi。
维基词典对“Zongzi”的解释是这样的：
我们一起来看看如何用英文介绍包粽子的步骤：
1）have bamboo leaves watered.
粽叶先浸水。
2）Fill the boat shape with a few tablespoons of the soaked sticky rice. Top with a sprinkling of mung beans.
在船型粽叶中填入几勺浸湿的糯米，再加少许绿豆。
3）Add some smoked meat and shrimps.
再加入腌制过的肉和虾。
4）Packed it with line with three, four, or five angles.
用线把粽子裹起来，可以做成三角、四角或五角。
5）Boiled them, first with big fire, then turn to small fire till rip.