Festival brings crowds to the Mon

When a Chinese poet drowned himself 2,400 years ago in an act of political protest, local… When a Chinese poet drowned himself 2,400 years ago in an act of political protest, local peasants raced in dragon boats to try to save him. The occasion, minus the drowning, developed into a tradition and sport that spread around the world.

Similarly, Pittsburgh’s annual Dragon Boat Festival, which was initiated to commemorate Pittsburgh’s ties to China, is growing into a celebration of all of Pittsburgh’s ethnic groups and communities.

Dragon boat racers, performers, and spectators – all from different parts of the United States and the world – convened last Saturday at the second annual Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival at South Side Riverfront Park.

Dancers, musicians, food and craft vendors and members of Chinese cultural organizations gathered along the park’s cozy pathways, while 40-foot boats outfitted with wooden Chinese dragon heads charged beneath the Birmingham Bridge and down the Monongahela River.

“We always talk about our three rivers, but we don’t have enough activity on our three rivers,” said Linda Campbell, executive director of the Greater Pittsburgh Sister Cities Association.

Campbell explained that this year’s festival organizers, which include the Three Rivers Families with Children from China and the Pittsburgh Chinese School, plan to make the festival a yearly event because of the enthusiasm for the festival last year and the importance of developing river recreation.

Pittsburgh held its first dragon boat races at the Autumn Moon Festival last September at the North Shore Park, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Pittsburgh’s sister city tie to Wuhan, China.

“This venue has been amazing compared to last year, and last year’s venue was amazing, so that really speaks to this year,” said Ben Ledewitz, captain of the Three Rivers Rowing Association team and a senior at Carnegie Mellon University.

This year’s Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival had not only changed in size, but in focus as well. Last year, the celebration highlighted Pittsburgh’s Chinese community and its relationship with Wuhan. The new aim of the festival could serve as a vehicle to promote new sister city relationships.

A former resident of Chennai, India is trying to form a sister city relationship with Pittsburgh, and brought members of Pittsburgh’s Indian community to the festival to build enthusiasm, Campbell said.

This year’s festival felt more like a journey along the Silk Road than just a visit to China. Organizations in the Chinese community provided the majority of the restaurants, information booths, crafts vendors and performances.

But visitors ate sausage and Greek gyros, and drank Thai bubble tea along with their dumplings and moon cake. Spectators could watch bagpipe players along with Chinese flower dancers, and see Indian children in traditional costumes dance to Indian pop music.

“We wanted to make it a true Pittsburgh festival and incorporate all that Pittsburgh has to offer,” Campbell said.

The festival also served to bring different neighborhoods and organizations together, as well. A variety of organizations within the Chinese community became better acquainted at the festival, according to Jonathan Raiti, an international specialist at the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Knowing each other better will help the organizations become stronger, Raiti said.

The festival also helped to acquaint Pittsburghers with parts of their own city they had never seen before, Raiti added, citing an informal poll that indicated that three-fourths of the people who visited the South Side Riverfront Park, “one of the best kept secrets in Pittsburgh,” had never been there before.

Raiti explained that the URA underwrote part the cost of the festival last year, but now it is supported by non-profit organizations and private donations. Private funding kept the festival in place at a time when financial problems in Pittsburgh have caused other events to shut down.

When a successful event can stand on its own two legs, he said, it makes the community stronger.

But the festival is not free from monetary troubles.

Economic issues have restricted donations from corporations, Campbell said, but she expects investment in international activities to increase in future years. This year, the festival drew dragon boat racing teams from Philadelphia, Cleveland and Washington, D.C.

The level of activity has increased for dragon boat racing in Pittsburgh. Ledewitz said the number of teams increased from 10 to 16 teams this year. Delegates from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology in Pittsburgh paddled along with more experienced rowers from the Steel City Rowing Club and Three Rivers Rowing Association’s teams. Other students from Carnegie Mellon and Pitt were also included in the team, Ledewitz said.

Members of Pitt’s Law School and their Asian Law Students Association raced for a second year in the festival’s novice mixed division. Though they failed to take first place in their division, Rebekah Lee, president of the Pitt’s Asian Law Students Association and dragon boat paddler, said she felt taking part in events like this would be a good way for people to meet in non-academic setting and present their organization to the community.

The Greater Pittsburgh Sister Cities Association, along with the Three Rivers Rowing Association, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and various other organizations in Pittsburgh’s Chinese community organized last year’s festival.