43rd Annual Boston Dragon Boat Festival Draws Thousands to Charles River For First Time in Two Years | News | The Harvard Crimson

Hundreds of Cambridge residents, vacationers, and volunteers convened at Boston’s forty third annual Dragon Boat Pageant Sunday to rejoice the normal Chinese language vacation by vibrant festivities and boat racing on the Charles River.

Established in 1979, the celebration is the primary and oldest dragon boat competition in North America. The occasion, which was revived after the pandemic stymied in-person efforts for 2 years, drew greater than 20,000 guests, in response to Boston Dragon Boat Pageant President Gail Wang.

Wang mentioned she was “pleasantly stunned” by the excessive turnout following the competition’s resurrection for the primary time since 2019.

“It’s simply this sense of returning to regular,” Wang mentioned. “Returning to the gorgeous web site and seeing individuals having fun with the competition — it’s simply very emotional.”

Forty-eight groups participated within the boat race this 12 months, a drop from the final competition’s record-high 76 groups. Every workforce, composed of 16 to twenty paddlers, vied for a spot within the nationwide dragon boat racing championships, which shall be held in New York in August. The groups rowed 39-foot-long dragon boats in a 500-meter race down the Charles, cheered on by crowds overhead on the John W. Weeks Footbridge.

Shutong Fan, who competed within the race for the primary time as a part of the College of Science and Expertise of China’s workforce, referred to as the competition “very spectacular.”

“So many individuals are excited by our Chinese language tradition,” Fan mentioned.

Attendees loved meals truck fare and zongzi — conventional Chinese language rice wrapped in bamboo leaves — whereas spectating the boat racing occasion. Each the dish and competition commemorate the loss of life of third century B.C. poet and political chief Qu Yuan as a part of a 2,000-year-long Chinese language custom, in response to the competition web site.

All through the afternoon, the occasion showcased cultural performances from a number of Boston-area Asian organizations, together with conventional Chinese language, Korean, Thai, and Indian dances, martial arts demonstrations, and Japanese Taiko drumming.

Samuel “Sam” Murdock ’23, who discovered of the competition from a banner in Central Sq., mentioned he “cherished” the lion dance – a conventional Chinese language dance carried out for good luck.

“Vivacious, bustling,” Adam V. Aleksic ’23, one other attendee, mentioned of the occasion. “It’s means larger than I anticipated.”

Volunteers hosted cultural arts and crafts actions, together with writing Chinese language calligraphy, making paper lanterns, and wrapping contemporary zongzi.

Summer time J. Smentek ’25 mentioned she observed the tents alongside the river, which drew her to attend the occasion with mates.

“It was good to take a look at the humanities and crafts tables and, after all, get to see the boats,” Smentek mentioned. “I actually cherished seeing the dancers and all people performing.”

Wang mentioned the competition’s mission is to advertise the game of dragon boat racing whereas uniting Asian communities within the Boston space.

“Forty-three years onward and take a look at us — we now have efficiency and meals distributors from many Asian communities,” Wang mentioned. “It’s all getting collectively to assist this occasion with communities from throughout.”

—Workers author Vivi E. Lu could be reached at vivi.lu@thecrimson.com. Comply with her on Twitter @vivielu_.