Dragon Boat Festival in North Park supports breast cancer survivors

While watercraft are common on the lake at North Park, ones with the heads of mythical creatures up front appear just once a year.

The occasion is the annual Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival, during which participants engage in friendly racing competitions while celebrating and supporting the region’s breast cancer survivors.

Held Sept. 28 on a cloudy but otherwise agreeable day, the 2024 festival “was our largest event ever,” according to organizing group Pittsburgh Hearts of Steel.

A dragon boat, or long zhou, features a colorful carved head at the bow representing benevolence, power and heroism, and the craft has a long history of use in religious water rituals and cultural celebrations.

The Hong Kong Tourist Association revived the tradition during the 1970s, and the International Dragon Boat Federation was formed in 1991. Today, dragon boat racing is an official team sport with more than 50 million participants worldwide, according to the federation.

Teams consist of 20 to 24 paddlers who sit two abreast, a coxswain who steers from the rear and a drummer who sits at the front.

Between boat races at North Park was a Parade of Survivors, with participants lining up in groups representing the duration of their battles against breast cancer, ranging as high as 20-plus years.

“You will be presented with a pink carnation to wave above your head as you walk,” Deborah Wilson, representing Pittsburgh Hearts of Steel, told the participants. “This traditional ceremony is a way for a dragon boat breast cancer team to celebrate the lives of survivors and to honor those who are battling the disease, and to remember those who have passed away from breast cancer.”

She spoke of someone in particular.

“We lost a member of our team this spring, Kerri Balas, and we’d like to pay tribute to her memory,” Wilson said. “Kerri was an advocate for breast cancer awareness and was a Susan G. Komen spokesperson. She lost her life this spring (after) a very courageous and long fight.”

According to her obituary, she was named 2013 chair of the Komen foundation-benefiting Pittsburgh Race for the Cure, and she co-directed the IUP Shoot for the Cure Classic for many years.

Prior to the parade, Wilson introduced survivor Kathy Pecka, who read an original poem, “On the Water.” The composition concludes with:

In our hearts there is no question, only commitment

There’s no looking back, only forward

Eyes ahead, one boat, one body, gaining strength with each stroke

In together, out together, we leave it all on the water

Pittsburgh Hearts of Steel is a breast cancer survivor dragon boat team based at Three Rivers Rowing Association. All members are survivors who share a desire to be physically active, to support each other in their journeys, and to encourage others living with cancer to lead full and active lives. Donations to Hearts of Steel are fully tax-deductible.

For more information, visit www.heartsofsteelpittsburgh.org.