The pacu jalur is an Eastern Minangkabau-origin term;^[4] the pacu literally means "race", meanwhile the word jalur refers to "(elongated) boat".^[5] In simple sense, the Pacu Jalur could be roughly translated as "boat race" or "canoe race".

Depends on Minangkabau dialectal differences,^[4] the Pacu Jalur might spelt differently, such as Pacu Jalua (in Standard Minangkabau), Pacu Jalugh or Pachu Jalugh (in another Eastern Minangkabau), or even Patjoe Djaloer (in Petjo). According to colonial manuscripts written in Dutch, these cultural traditions were better known by its nicknames, such as Kanorace op de Inderagiri (lit. 'Canoe race of Indragiri') or Kanorace op de Batang Koeantan (lit. 'Batang Kuantan canoe race').

Little is known about the exact starting date of these cultural tradition, but the earliest written reference for Pacu Jalur specifically mentioned during 17th century within the local manuscripts. However, in earlier era, in the 7th century, it is worth to mention that the large number of envoy of Minangkabau rowers reached the downstream of the Batang Hari river (part of modern-day Jambi provincial region) from its upstream in Minangkabau Highlands (part of modern-day West Sumatra provincial region) using watercrafts, these specific event described in the Kedukan Bukit Inscription found in Palembang.

Inscriptional text:
"... maŕlapas dari Mināṅa tāmvan mamāva yaṁ vala dua lakşa daṅan ko śa duaratus cāra di sāmvau ..."
Translation:
"... went from the Minangkabau carrying twenty thousand reinforcements with two hundreds tributes in the watercrafts (boats or canoes) ..."

— information extracted from the Kedukan Bukit Inscription, dates back to 600s CE

According to the oral tradition of the local community, the Pacu Jalur were initially used as a means of transport along the river of Batang Kuantan from the Kuantan Hulu (upstream region) all the way down to the Cerenti sub-district at the mouth of Batang Kuantan river. As ground transportation was not yet developed during that time, the route was actually used as an important means of transport for villagers, mainly used as a means of transporting crops, such as local fruits and sugar cane, and serves to transport about 40-60 people. Later, these elongated dug-out boats are purposely decorated by the local cultural elements that might include the heads of snakes, crocodiles, tigers and sometimes added with Minangkabau umbrellas (payuang). As the time goes by, its function shifted from being a mere transport means for people to a splendid royal barge. The water-route that usually used as the transport or exchange goods-route gradually transformed as the sociocultural identity for Kuansing Minangkabaus to hold the festivals. Moreover, according to the written historical records, the route also served as the royals' route to welcome the honorable guests of kings (and later sultans) who wanted to visit the Rantau Kuantan area.

During the Dutch colonialism era, the Pacu Jalur was allowed and held to enliven the traditional celebrations; since 1890 it was used as the mean to commemorate the birthday of Wilhelmina (the Queen of the Netherlands) that fell on 31 August annually and the festival will last up to 1 or 2 September. The Pacu Jalur celebration was contested for 2–3 days, depending on the number of tracks that follow. Formerly, before the arrival of the Dutch colonizers, Pacu Jalur was already held by the locals to commemorate the Muslims celebrations, such as Maulud Nabi ('Birthday of Muhammad'), Eid-ul Fitr, or even to celebrate the Islamic New Year. Furthermore, after the independence of Indonesia, the festival developed more and intended to celebrate the Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia as well.

Later on, to preserve this cultural tradition, the government of Indonesia includes the Pacu Jalur Festival in annual national tourist calendar event of Indonesia, which usually held around 23 to 26 August.

According to the language of the local population, Jalur means Boat. Before the main event of "Pacu Jalur 'is started, it usually held entertainment performances like singing and dancing performances to entertain all participants and surrounding communities. Nowadays, prior to the festival, smaller paddeling events were held in four districts, followed by a traditional mini route held at Tepian Narosa Teluk Kuantan.^[6] The racetrack follows the flow of Batang Kuantan River, with a track length of about 1 km marked by six piles. The wooden boat taking part in the competition usually have a length of 25 to 40 meters and the width of the middle section of approximately 1.3 ms / d 1.5 m. The crew for each boat varies from 50 to 60 people. Each of the crew has his own task, there is the commander who shouts out instructions, the helmsman, another one leads the boat by dancing from left to right, while another provides the "music" to provide rhythm and ensure regularity to paddlers. All these are in order that the boat moves fast forward in the right direction, provide balance, and paddlers follow the same rhythm.

• Pacu Jawi — another traditional Minangkabau sport of bull race
• Pacu Itiak — another traditional Minangkabau sport of duck race