& 4th Pink Festival/Dragonboat Cup East in Vienna (Korneuburg)
Submitted by Svenja Franke-Bruhn.
IPCPC National Representative Germany and Country Liaison Austria.
The Vienna Pink Dragons were delighted to welcome the Go Europe Pink Dragons crew to the Dragon Boat Cup East in June, held this time in Korneuburg, a picturesque small town near Vienna. For the fourth time, after 2017, 2019, and 2022, they organized a pink-tinted welcome side program around the Dragonboat Cup East.
You can read about this festival weekend from the Go Europe Pink Dragons crew's perspective and in more detail in a separate article in this newsletter. Here are a few notes from the Vienna Pink Dragons' side.
Most participants arrived on Friday and were greeted by some members of our team for a lovely hot summer evening in a beautiful garden restaurant in the famous Prater area. The atmosphere was joyful as paddlers reminisced about the races they did together in New Zealand, Barcelona, and Hannover. In fact, eight paddlers who were members of the Vienna Pink Dragons International team in New Zealand were present!
The next day was filled with everything that a nice Dragonboat festival needs, including the participation of breast cancer teams and a very touching flower ceremony. The new location proved to be really nice, and the organization of the races and side program was, as usual, very well managed. Attendees enjoyed various dances and performances from different organizations. The Vienna Pink Dragons made sure the guests felt welcomed by providing a big tent, a specialty lunch – two huge savoury filled pretzel cut into small pieces, various drinks and thoughtfully filled goodie bags, upcycled from a pink beach bag by one of our talented members, Martina.
Beautiful big gerberas were purchased for the flower ceremony, which is always a highlight. It included a well-worded speech by our current president, Julia, and a lovely musical performance with a famous and moving song by Herbert Grönemeyer. Personally, it was very emotional for me as we used this song during our farewell paddle for my co-founding partner Nina, who sadly passed away in May 2018. The memories came flooding back, especially of her attendance at our first festival in 2017.
It was then that we started the tradition of welcoming our pink paddling sisters with a reception or dinner, offering a city tour or an excursion to the vineyards. This year, we opted for a picnic after a gentle paddle on the Alte Donau at our new club, where we moved last year. Our vice president, Rinoa, used her joyful creative side again and had the area decorated in a dazzling way. The picnic under the trees near the water with lots of home-made delicacies and cakes was thoroughly embraced and enjoyed by our guests.
Overall, the Vienna Pink Dragons are now firmly established, regularly welcoming new members and trying to attend several races per year. Not necessarily by all team members, as this is a voluntary activity, but those who do participate are usually very enthusiastic. There is one more event to look forward to in Frankfurt, Germany in August, and the famous annual Pinkathlon, organised by the second vice president Liz and her group, The Amazons, is taking place again on September 29, 2024 in Stockerau near Vienna.
As usual, individual Vienna Pink Dragons make the most of joining other pink teams when traveling. I had the honour of joining the 20th anniversary of the Tampa Dragon Ladies in Florida in April and am now looking forward to paddling in Essen – Germany, Zadar - Croatia and Annecy - France. Our current president, Julia, is enjoying various paddles with pink teams in the States during her summer holiday. Other members are excited about joining the races in Cyprus in October.
In spring 2025, the Vienna Pink Dragons will celebrate ten years of pink paddling in Vienna. It is not yet certain if we will organize another pink festival around the annual Dragonboat Cup East, as we decided early on to run this as a biennual event. We will keep everyone updated on this, but enrolment in the Cup is possible regardless. The event will be held on June 16, 2025, again in Korneuburg, close to Vienna. For more details please check out the website: www.drachenboote.at
