22-05-2025
Dragon Boat Festival in DC honors Chinese heritage, culture
WASHINGTON () — Another night of practice for members of the Washington, D.C. Dragon Boat Club, as members made their way up and down the Washington Channel in preparation for the annual Washington, D.C. Dragon Boat Festival.
'My husband was a U.S. Marine, and we lived in Okinawa, Japan,' coach Karen Littlewood said. 'Dragon boat is kind of integral to the people that live there.'
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Dragon boat racing started in Hong Kong in 1976, and is now practiced in more than 60 countries, including the U.S.
'I have some cousins in the Philippines that did it before, and I figured, well, I'm in a new environment, I'd like to try something new. So I signed up for it,' said Francis Lira, who took up the sport when he moved to the District in 2006.
Twenty-two paddlers man the large boat, with about half that on the smaller one, which presents a unique challenge.
'Once you have your individual technique down, now you have to blend together as a team. That means staying together. Everyone paddles together at the same time,' Lira said.
And there's no room for egos in this sport.
'It takes 20 people to make the boat go. You can't do it by yourself,' Littlewood said. 'So there are no superstars in this sport.'
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Dragon Boat Racing has attracted roughly 90,000 participants in the U.S. and Canada.
'The beautiful thing about the sport is it lends towards our type of body, the unique sets of muscles and strengths that we have. And it's also a sport for longevity,' Littlewood said.
The thing most noticeably absent from practice is the decorated boats that feature a dragon's head and a drum used to keep the pace. Those will be present during the festival.
The sport is a time of celebration. Yet it evolved from a much darker time in ancient Chinese culture.
Qu Yuan had been banished by Chinese leaders after he had been falsely accused of treason by political rivals. He drowned after he jumped into a river in what's believed to be a final sign of protest more than 2,000 years ago.
The boats in the races signify those that raced to recover the body before fish devoured it. The drums remind people of how they tossed rice dumplings to distract the fish.
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These days, dragon boat races are believed to help chase away evil spirits, protect the health of the people and ensure a good crop.
'One of the things about living in the D.C. area, there's a lot of pressure on you, whether it's in the office or on the road,' Lira said. 'I find that whenever I'm on the water, it's like a reset.'
This year's Dragon Boat Festival will take place on Saturday, May 31, at Thompson's Boat Center
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