Jangan-eup Accelerates Efforts to Create the 'Second Denmark'
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The 'Andersen Fairy Tale Village,' inspired by fairy tale stories, will be established in Gijang, Busan.
On the 2nd, Gijang-gun announced that it will officially begin the creation of the 'Andersen Fairy Tale Village' around San 120, Giryong-ri, Jangan-eup.
Gijang-gun plans to design the village not only for family education and experiential learning but also as a healing and cultural space for local residents.
They plan to create a fairy tale village similar to the Andersen Village in Odense, Denmark, allowing visitors to experience the atmosphere of Odense within Gijang-gun.
Oh Gyu-seok, the head of Gijang-gun, said, "We will completely scrap the unrealistic Gijang Ceramic Village project and develop the area into an Andersen Theater, theme forest, and fairy tale village."
Since 2010, Gijang-gun has been initiating a project to create a themed tourist destination based on the fairy tale author 'Andersen,' who was born in Odense, Denmark, and is globally known for over 130 original fairy tales.
They built and have been operating the Andersen Theater, a children's-only theater presenting children's plays, in 2015 with an investment of 3.7 billion KRW. Family visitors continue to come every weekend, receiving great responses. Currently, due to COVID-19, non-face-to-face performances are being presented through the theater's website.
In 2019, by signing an MOU with the Andersen Museum in Odense, Denmark, they secured intellectual property rights and invested 4 billion KRW to create a theme forest based on Andersen's fairy tales.
On a 625,145㎡ (approximately 190,000 pyeong) site, visitors can experience a themed path recreating spaces from Andersen's fairy tales, a fairy tale forest with photo zones, a fairy tale lake themed on The Ugly Duckling, and enjoy rest along a circular walking trail while immersing themselves in imaginary fairy tales.
The Andersen Fairy Tale Village, a play, experience, learning, and cultural space centered on children and families themed around Andersen's works, will be built on a 170,889㎡ (54,000 pyeong) site with an investment of about 14.2 billion KRW (2.7 billion KRW from the national government, 5.5 billion KRW from the city, and 6 billion KRW from the county). It will include a children's library, children's cinema, exhibition experience center, cafeteria, and lounge within a 3,000㎡ facility. Construction began in June this year and is scheduled for completion in 2022.
Once Gijang-gun completes the Andersen Theater, theme forest, and Andersen Fairy Tale Village, it will have the only comprehensive Andersen-themed tourist destination in Korea.
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