Online Parade Sees 16,000 Participants... 16 Times More Than Last Year... Preparing for Hybrid In-Person and Virtual Festival Next Year
Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa District, is delivering the closing remarks at the closing ceremony held at 4 p.m. on the 27th in the district office auditorium.
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The ‘2020 Ontact Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival,’ which showcased the history and culture of the Baekje era from 2,000 years ago through a non-face-to-face format, successfully concluded on the 27th, demonstrating the potential of festivals suited for the COVID-19 era.
Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) usually holds the Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival every autumn mainly at Olympic Park, but this year, considering the COVID-19 situation, it was newly planned as an online and non-face-to-face program.
Under the theme ‘Baekje and Songpa’s Showdown,’ the festival opened on the 23rd and continued with various programs for five days. Freed from the constraints of time and space, anyone could easily participate in the programs from their desired location, receiving positive responses from residents.
In particular, the ‘Online Hanseong Baekje Parade,’ which moved the historical cultural street procession to a virtual space, attracted an average of about 16,000 real-time viewers. Compared to the 1,000 participants in last year’s on-site street procession held on Olympic-ro, participation increased 16-fold, showing high engagement.
The ‘Ontact Children’s Hanseong Baekje Experience Play’ held on YouTube on the 26th saw early closure of 1,000 pre-registrations, drawing great interest from children and parents.
Additionally, 3,743 picture garo banners decorated with selected works from the children’s drawing contest not only allowed residents and visitors to feel the festival atmosphere but also promoted Songpa as the city of Hanseong Baekje, achieving a twofold effect.
On the final day of the festival, the 27th, a closing ceremony was held at the Songpa-gu Office auditorium. To comfort residents weary from COVID-19, various cultural performances were prepared to convey warm consolation. The first part of the celebration featured the screening of the ‘2020 Ontact Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival’ highlight video and a powerful performance by baritone Yang Jun-mo wishing for overcoming hardships.
In the second part, the stage of hope and promise, Songpa-gu Mayor Park Seong-su delivered a vision message for the successful hosting of the ‘2021 Grand Baekje Festival’ and a hopeful performance for Songpa residents followed.
Musical singer Kim So-hyun sang ‘Limelight’ and ‘Golden Star,’ and baritone Yang Jun-mo performed ‘New World,’ concluding the five-day journey with a pledge to overcome the crisis and move forward together toward a bright future.
The closing ceremony was broadcast live on Songpa TV’s YouTube channel from 4 PM to 5 PM.
Songpa-gu Mayor Park Seong-su said, “The 2020 Ontact Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival turned a crisis into an opportunity for growth and showed new possibilities for digital festivals,” adding, “Building on this year’s festival experience, next year we will join forces with cities in the Baekje cultural zone to prepare the ‘2021 Grand Baekje Festival’ as a global festival leading the changes of the times. We ask for your great interest.”
Meanwhile, due to the high participation and positive response from residents to this year’s non-face-to-face festival, the district plans to conduct next year’s Seokchon Lake Cherry Blossom Festival and Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival with a combination of non-face-to-face and face-to-face formats for a more diverse experience.
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