Naju-si to Host the 6th Korea Mahan Culture Festival on October 9

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] The date for the 6th Korea Mahan Cultural Festival, the representative festival of Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kang In-gyu), has been set from October 9 to 11.

The city announced on the 10th that at the first festival promotion committee meeting held at the National Naju Museum on the 31st of last month, they decided and discussed the festival schedule as well as plans to improve the festival programs.

The Korea Mahan Cultural Festival is a festival that reexamines the history of the ancient Mahan, which flourished in the Yeongsan River basin 2,000 years ago, and the lifestyle culture enjoyed by the Mahan people at that time.

It is characterized by unique festival programs such as various experience booths and competitions related to the lifestyle customs of the Mahan people recorded in the "Dongyi Yuljeon" (Biographies of Eastern Barbarians) in the Hou Hanshu (Book of the Later Han), food stalls, and reenactments of traditional ceremonies.

In particular, last year’s (5th) festival, which changed its name from the Mahan Cultural Festival to the Korea Mahan Cultural Festival, surpassed 200,000 cumulative visitors over three days, emerging as a representative historical and cultural festival of the Honam region.

The festival promotion committee focused on improving convenience and satisfaction for visiting tourists during the meeting and discussed improvement plans including ▲ specialization and diversification of local food halls ▲ operation of a global multicultural food hall ▲ discovery of SNS supporters for the Korea Mahan Cultural Festival ▲ expansion of ecological flower complexes such as pink muhly and cosmos.

Competitions such as the Mahan Military Dance National Contest and Mahan Masked King, as well as Mahan experience booths, exhibitions, and promotional halls, will also be actively supplemented through future meetings.

Mayor Kang In-gyu said, “Through the Korea Mahan Cultural Festival, we have firmly established the recognition that Mahan is a proud part of Korean history and that its legitimate succession lies in Naju,” adding, “We will continue to improve and supplement diverse and meaningful programs through the promotion committee meetings so that the festival can grow beyond representing Naju to become a festival representing Korea.”