Top Ten Gyeonggi Festivals 2012
Createdd 2012-02-29 Hit 990
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Top Ten Gyeonggi Festivals 2012
Gyeonggi Province has selected ‘The Top Ten Gyeonggi Festivals’ from among the many local festivals, traditional performances and festivals and programs designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2012, which include culture and tourism festivals and permanent culture and tourism programs.
Icheon Rice Cultural Festival, Jarasum International Jazz Festival and Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival were designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as culture and tourism festivals for 2012. The Hwaseong Haenggung Permanent Hanmadang Program and the Namsadang Saturday Permanent Outdoor Performance were designated as permanent culture and tourism programs by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Let me introduce the 2012 schedules of the Top Ten Gyeonggi Province Festivals.
1. Icheon Rice Cultural Festival
The annual festival is held in and around Soelbong Park, Icheon, in the second half of October. Most importantly, this festival rice brings producers and consumers face to face, enabling consumers to buy the best rice brands in Korea at very reasonable prices.
Young visitors are sure to have fun seeing and experiencing traditional Korean farm culture, while adult and more elderly visitors will be able to savor their childhood memories of rice farming and traditional villages and enjoy quality time with their family.
Date: October 18~21, 2012
Contents: Turtle play, thanksgiving celebration, royal rice offering parade, rice performances, outdoor play representing wishes for a good harvest, jangseungje (offerings to the sentinel posts of a village), straw craft, rice threshing and shelling, daedong nori (amusements of the whole community), cooking rice for two thousand people in iron pots, etc.
Venue: Seolbong Park, Icheon City
Organizers: Icheon City, Icheon Rice Cultural Festival Organizing Committee
2. Ansan Street Arts Festival
The festival was launched in Ansan (City of Culture) in May 2005 under the theme of ‘the freedom of street arts and communication,’ and is now recognized as a major citizens’ festival consisting of domestic and international outdoor performances. It’s a street festival and thus it ‘breathes’ with the citizens together. The festival presents highly regarded local and international artists and performers from a wide variety of fields including drama, music, mime, dance and puppet shows. Citizens actively participate in the arts and performances, contributing to its reputation as the most outstanding street arts festival in Korea.
Date: May 4~6, 2012
Contents: guerilla performances, multi-cultural food tasting, installation art, art playground, etc.
Venue: Ansan 25 Plaza
Organizer: Ansan City, Ansan Cutural Arts Center
3. Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival
This annual festival, which starts immediately before Suwon Citizens’ Day (October 10), is held around Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, a UNESCO world cultural heritage built by King Jeongjo, the 22nd monarch of the Joseon Dynasty. The king’s outstanding love for his parents and his reformist spirit are embodied in the design and construction of the fortress. As the most famous festival of Suwon, it features a number of programs including a reenactment of daily royal or common life during the reign of King Jeongjo, family experience programs, and a royal ceremony of greeting for Great King Jeongjo. There are so many interesting things to see, eat and do during the festival. that it attracts many tourists from all over Korea and overseas to Suwon to participate in the festival.
Date: October 7 ~10, 2012
Contents: Permanent Reenactment of King Jeongjo’s Ceremonial Procession to the Royal Tombs, Royal Court Experience, Hwanseong & Animal Farm, Night Jangyongyeong Camp Guard Ceremony,Congratulatory Bell Ringing, Traditional Korean Clothes Contest
Venue: Suwon Hwaseong Fortress & Hwaseong City
Organizer: Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival Organizing Committee
4.Jarasum International Jazz Festival
In 2004, thirty groups of jazz musicians from twelve countries, including the U.S., Japan, Sweden and Norway, took part in the inaugural Jazz Festival held on Jaraseom Island. Now, more than 100,000 spectators attend the festival every year, making it the most famous jazz festival in Asia. The festival perfectly matches the natural environment of the festival site. More than 95% of visitors express their intention to revisit the festival. Despite its short history, the festival is now attended by many world-class jazz musicians and the audience response is just wild. It has been evaluated as a very successful festival.
Date: October 19 ~21, 2012
Contents: International Jazz Performances and Contests, Public Jazz Contest, Exhibitions & Experience Events, etc.
Venue: Jaraseom Island
Organizer: Gapyeong-gun, Jarasum Jazz Center
5. Paju Book Sori Festival
This renowned book festival is held to advertise the real values of books by focusing on programs, rather than simply to sell books. More than 100 publishers (based in the festival complex) and over 1,000 authors take part in the festival. The festival programs include meetings with authors, book readings, performances, exhibitions, workshops and seminars. As such, the festival is a ‘knowledge space’ for readers, and takes a variety of forms.
The festival also features a ‘relay’ lecture series with thirty famous guest authors. Visitors are also allowed to visit printing shops and publishers in the complex to observe the book-making process. They are also given the opportunity to learn about the history of books and get more familiar with books. The festival also exhibits a collection of ancient documents, a very special, unique feature of Paju Book Sori Festival.
Date: September 15 ~ 23, 2012
Contents: A ‘relay’ lecture series on literature by thirty famous Korean writers, Experiencing Publishing & Printing, Themed Book Markets, Book Readings, Crossover Performances, etc.
Venue: Paju Book City
Organizer: Paju City, Paju Book Sori Organizing Committee
6. Siheung Gaetgol Festival
This festival is very well known because it is not just one of the ten most important festivals held in Gyeonggi Province but is also one of the twenty major ecotourism programs selected by the Ministry of Environment. Under the slogan “Gaetgol – the special city of ecology and environment,’ the organizers of this festival have planned diverse programs using Gaetgol’s unique ecological resources, namely the beautiful sea and its ecosystem. The festival offers visitors plenty of opportunities to learn about the ecosystem, such as the salt farm experience in the ecopark, where visitors can participate in salt making while operating water wheels themselves.
Date: August 10 ~12, 2012
Contents: Gaetgol Ecosystem Experience Program, Astronomy & Space Observation Program, Having Fun in a Seawater Play including Mud Experience
Venue: Siheung Gaetgol Eco park
Organizer: Siheung City, Siheung Gaetgol Festival Organizing Committee
7. Gwacheon Hanmadang Festival
This festival is very well known because it is not just one of the ten most important festivals held in Gyeonggi Province but is also one of the twenty major ecotourism programs selected by the Ministry of Environment. Under the slogan “Gaetgol – the special city of ecology and environment,’ the organizers of this festival have planned diverse programs using Gaetgol’s unique ecological resources, namely the beautiful sea and its ecosystem. The festival offers visitors plenty of opportunities to learn about the ecosystem, such as the salt farm experience in the ecopark, where visitors can participate in salt making while operating water wheels themselves.
Date: August 10 ~12, 2012
Contents: Gaetgol Ecosystem Experience Program, Astronomy & Space Observation Program, Having Fun in a Seawater Play including Mud Experience
Venue: Siheung Gaetgol Eco park
Organizer: Siheung City, Siheung Gaetgol Festival Organizing Committee
7. Gwacheon Hanmadang Festival
This family-oriented festival, Korea’s first Paleolithic Age culture event, is focused on providing visitors with diverse hands-on experiences such as the Paleolithic Age Experience course, where visitors can learn about the Paleolithic Age through theoretical and practical displays. The festival also features a Paleolithic Age Park where visitors can learn about the period through games and play, and a Farming Experience where participants can learn about the agriculture and culture of the Yeoncheon area.
The Yeoncheon-Jeongok Paleolithic Age Festival has earned a reputation as one of the two most important Paleolithic festivals in the world based on the outstanding archaeological value of the world-class prehistoric relics of Jeongok-ri. The organizers are working to upgrade and expand the contents of the festival in line with its global importance. As the only Paleolithic Age festival in Korea, it introduces the cultural features of the prehistoric period of some 300,000 years ago through educational programs and materials, experience programs and artistic performances. It has established itself as a model for other prehistoric age related festivals in Korea.
Date: May 4~8, 2012
Contents: Paleolithic Age Performances, Prehistoric/Agricultural Life Experience Village, Visits to Jeongok Prehistory Museum, etc.
Venue: Prehistoric Sites in Jeongok-ri, Yeoncheon
Organizer: Yeoncheon-gun, Yeoncheon Jeongok-ri Paleolithic Festival Organizing Committee
9. International Horticulture Goyang Korea 2012
International Horticulture Goyang Korea 2012 will be held under the theme of the ‘World Goyang Flower Olympiad’ in connection with the 2012 London Olympics.
The Eco Olympiad Hall, the main flower exhibition hall of the festival, is designed embody and promote the Olympic spirit of the past present and future in an indoor space of 1,200m2.
The space will be divided into seven themed areas including Ancient Olympiad Temples, Olympic Torch Sculpture, Heroes’ Joy and Great Voyages. The outdoor Continental Olympic Garden will be decorated with a mosaic culture of the Olympic stars’ performances. The event will also feature a world flower garden parade, a world flower festival party, a street festival and diverse cultural performances.
Date: April 26 ~ May 13, 2012
Contents: Flower Olympiad Hall, Flower Shows by more than 100 Countries, International Flower Conference, Outdoor Themed Exhibitions
Venue: Goyang City Lake Park
Organizer: Goyang City, Goyang International Flower Foundation
10.Namyangju Dasan Cultural Festival
This festival honors the academic achievements of Jeong Yak-yong(pen-name Dasan), a scholar of the Practical Learning (Silhak) Movement during the late Joseon Dynasty and his own Realist School of Confucianism. The festival features a variety of academic contests in the fields of the arts, creative writing, calligraphy, musicals and plays for children and students (from elementary to high school level). Certain programs are also open to the general public.
The festival aims to help discover talented young people and develop the culture and arts of the region. The festival also honors individuals who have made significant contributions to society and their neighbors in line with the spirit of Jeong Yak-yong. The festival also provides various forms of traditional Korean art performances and exhibitions in which many local citizens actively participate.
Date: September 21~23, 2012
Contents: Creative Writing Contest, Experience Programs, Various Plays and Performances, Food Stands linked to Organically Cultivated Regional Lotus Roots
Venue: Heritage Site of Dasan in Namyangju
Organizer: Namyangju City, Namyangju Dasan Cultural Festival Organizing Committee
