From October 1, at Gwangyang Yesul Warehouse and Madong Neighborhood Sports Park area
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gwangyang City, Jeollanam-do announced on the 28th that it will hold the "30th Anniversary Exchange Week of Sister City Relationship between Gwangyang, Republic of Korea and Linz, Austria" jointly with its international sister city, Linz, Austria, from October 1 to 7.
Gwangyang City and Linz, Austria established their international sister city relationship on December 11, 1991, facilitated by the two representative companies of each city, POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks and Linz Alpine Steelworks, maintaining their friendship for 30 years.
The city has promoted this commemorative event through continuous consultations and cooperation since last year to widely inform citizens of both cities about the sister city relationship and to strengthen their friendship.
The exchange week will be conducted in a hybrid format combining online and offline events to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The exchange week program includes △ commemorative tree planting ceremony and opening ceremony △ Linz city promotion and photo exhibition of friendly exchanges between the two cities △ Austrian cinema △ Linz virtual tour △ interviews with citizens of both cities (video) △ video conference exchanges (three sessions including meetings between the mayors, cultural and artistic exchange meetings, and volunteer exchange meetings) △ exhibition of award-winning works from the "Austria Linz in My Heart" art contest for Gwangyang students, among various other programs.
Due to recent concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in the region, some offline events originally planned, such as various congratulatory performances, traditional culture experience zones, local youth flea markets, and indoor cinemas, were canceled. However, thorough prior preparations were made to enable as many citizens as possible to participate.
In particular, considering that major events such as the opening ceremony, commemorative tree planting, and photo exhibition will be held at Gwangyang Art Warehouse (next to the Provincial Museum) area, a large outdoor LED screen will be installed at Madong Neighborhood Sports Park (next to Norway Forest Apartments) in the eastern district to live broadcast the opening ceremony scenes for citizens living in that area during the exchange week.
Additionally, interviews with citizens and over 160 Linz virtual tour videos will be broadcast during the daytime (12:00?19:00), and at night (19:00?21:00), the Austrian cinema will operate by alternating two films: "The Sound of Music" (Friday, Sunday, Tuesday) and "Before Sunrise" (Saturday, Monday, Wednesday).
The opening ceremony scenes, citizen interviews, and Linz virtual tours will also be streamed on the screen at the rest area (cafe) in Building B of Gwangyang Art Warehouse, the main venue, and on the YouTube channel, providing many citizens with an opportunity for indirect experience.
Deputy Mayor Kim Kyung-ho said, "It is a great honor that the Austrian Ambassador to Korea personally visited Gwangyang City and the Korean Ambassador to Austria sent a congratulatory video, contributing to the promotion of friendly relations between the two countries."
He added, "Following the visit of the Linz mayor and delegation to Gwangyang in May 2019 to sign a practical exchange agreement, we are very pleased to jointly promote the exchange week event. We hope this event will be a good opportunity for Linz citizens to learn about Gwangyang and for Gwangyang citizens to learn about Linz."
Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr
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