Gwangju Seo-gu Hosts 'Yeongsangang Seochang Fields Silver Grass Festival' After 3 Years

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho] Seo-gu, Gwangju (Mayor Kim I-gang) announced on the 29th that it will hold the "7th Yeongsangang Seochang Field Silver Grass Festival" from the 7th to the 10th of next month around the Yeongsangang Bicycle Path Information Center.

The Silver Grass Festival, set against the backdrop of the Yeongsangang River and the silver grass path, started in 2015 as an ecological and environmental landscape festival in the city and has established itself as a representative autumn festival of Gwangju.

Seo-gu switched to an online festival to prevent the spread of virus infections after the outbreak of COVID-19, but after three years, it will welcome tourists with an in-person and on-site festival.

The opening ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. on the 7th at the main stage of the festival site, starting with the Yeongsan street parade wishing for the festival's success, followed by the opening declaration, welcome speech and congratulatory remarks, a light ball performance declaring the leap to a representative cultural tourism festival of Gwangju, and a lighting ceremony of the Garden of Light with children, disabled people, and multicultural families together.

Celebratory performances by the band group "Daybreak" and trot singer "Yoyomi" are also scheduled.

During the festival, various experience and education programs such as walking the silver grass path with music, finding golden silver grass, silver grass play experience, romantic postcard writing, and Komjirak craft workshop will be held, and themed spaces such as silver grass photo zones, observatory photo zones, picnic zones, and food truck zones will also be operated.

In addition, the Buskers World Cup performance against the backdrop of silver grass will further enhance the festival atmosphere, and the Secret Circle, where visitors can enjoy nature and heal with lovers and family in the silver grass field, will be introduced.

Moreover, festival participants can fully enjoy the charm of the ecological and environmental festival through silver grass path plogging, which involves picking up trash while walking, a green plugged concert using solar landscape lighting with minimal electricity use, and a zero-waste talk show.

By watching the silver grass festival promotional video on the Gwangju Seo-gu Office YouTube channel and participating in events held on SNS (blogs, Instagram, Facebook, KakaoStory, etc.), participants can also receive small prizes.

Mayor Kim I-gang of Seo-gu said, "I hope this will be a happy festival where beloved families and couples can enjoy autumn in the city and take memorable photos with silver grass and Seochang sunset as the background," adding, "We will develop it into a representative festival of Korea loved by many people to the extent that the silver grass festival is eagerly awaited every autumn."

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho baekok@asiae.co.kr