Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival, a non-profit cultural initiative that is free to the public! The mission of the festival is to highlight the Chinese and pan-Asian cultures in the Pittsburgh region, and to promote intellectual understanding between the East and the West in a fun way.

2008 marks the seventh anniversary of this growing event hosted by Greater Pittsburgh Sister Cities Association, and supported by Three Rivers Rowing Association, Pittburgh Chinese School, the Organization of Chinese Americans, Three Rivers Families with Children from China, Tzu Chi Pittsburgh Liaison Office and the Chinese Association for Science and Technology-Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Dragon Boat Festival features traditional Asian music, dance, and food, plus arts and crafts for the children. Asian art, clothing, jewelry, fans, and much more is available along the Dragon Stroll. Learn how to use chop sticks, experience time-honored martial arts, demonstrations of Chinese yo-yo, tai chi, and much more.

Visitors are also welcome to try their hand at Dragon Boating. Each ornately-carved boat is 44 feet long and features brightly-painted dragon heads and tails that loom ominously at the fore and aft of each craft. A Dragon Boat seats 20 paddlers, a steersperson and a drummer to sound the beat. This is a truly unique experience and one that you may never again encounter.

This project was supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency, through the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PA Partners), its regional arts funding partnership. State government funding for the arts depends on an annual appropriation by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. PA Partners is administered in this region by Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.