Seongdong-gu 'Taejo Yi Seong-gye Festival'... Seongbuk-gu 'Uireung Cultural Festival' Held

[Seoul District News] Seongdong-gu, Taijo Iseonggye Hunting Procession Led by Military Band and Honor Guard on the 15th, Parade from Sowol Art Hall to Salgoti Park & Festival Opening Ceremony with Celebration Performances, Musical Gala Show, Traditional Experiences from 6 PM... Seongbuk-gu, 4th Uireung Cultural Festival Promoting UNESCO World Heritage Uireung on the 15th with Various Programs on King's Procession, King's Performance, and King's Yard Themes... Nowon-gu, '2022 Nowon Moonlight Walk' Held from 14th to 30th &

Hunting procession parade crossing Salgoti Bridge at the Taejo Yi Seong-gye Festival

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced on the 15th that it will hold the ‘2022 Taejo Yi Seong-gye Festival’ around Salgotyi Sports Park.

The Taejo Yi Seong-gye Festival is Seongdong-gu’s representative local event utilizing the historical figure ‘Yi Seong-gye’ and Treasure No. 1738 ‘Salgotyi Bridge.’ It is planned as a festival that adds cultural performances to the reenactment of the hunting procession, sending hope to residents weary from COVID-19.

The main event is the ‘Taejo Yi Seong-gye Hunting Procession’ street parade, starting at 4:30 PM on the 15th at Sowol Art Hall. The hunting procession parade, which began in 1999, features the unique theme of ‘hunting,’ reenacting Taejo Yi Seong-gye setting out on a hunt by linking Salgotyi Bridge, a representative hunting ground for Joseon dynasty kings, and the horse stable (Majang) where the nation’s horses were fed.

The procession will begin with a departure performance led by a military band and guards, followed by about 200 residents decorating the rear. The street hunting procession will proceed along a 2 km route from Sowol Art Hall, passing the 4th Industrial Revolution Center, to Salgotyi Bridge.

At the final destination, Salgotyi Park, the festival opening ceremony will be held at 6 PM, followed by congratulatory performances by the district’s art groups and a musical gala show themed on Yi Seong-gye. Additionally, the venue will offer various attractions and activities such as traditional kite making, calligraphy experiences, photo zones, and flea markets, creating a rich festival atmosphere.

Seoul’s Salgotyi Bridge is a nationally designated cultural asset. It was designated as Historic Site No. 160 on December 15, 1967, and was upgraded to Treasure No. 1738 on December 23, 2011. Built in the early Joseon period as a stone bridge using 64 stone pillars, it was designed in a diamond shape to reduce water resistance and is known as the longest existing bridge from the Joseon era.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “I hope visitors to the festival will feel the important value of historical cultural heritage through a time travel experience to the Joseon era,” adding, “In these difficult times, I want to offer residents memories and a message of hope through the Taejo Yi Seong-gye Festival.”

Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro), home to the UNESCO World Heritage Joseon Royal Tombs (Uireung), will hold the ‘4th Seokgwan-dong Uireung Cultural Festival’ on the 15th in Seokgwan-dong.

This festival, held face-to-face for the first time in three years since the 3rd Uireung Cultural Festival in 2019 before COVID-19, consists of three parts: ▲Part 1 (King’s Procession), ▲Part 2 (King’s Performance), and ▲Part 3 (King’s Yard).

Kim Deok-hyun, Chairman of the Seokgwan-dong Uireung Cultural Festival Promotion Committee, said, “Since July 4, residents have united their will to directly plan and participate in all aspects of the festival from start to finish as a ‘resident-participatory village festival.’ We hope this festival will bring Seokgwan-dong residents closer together in harmony.”

Jung Chang-seop, Head of Seokgwan-dong, explained, “The ‘4th Seokgwan-dong Uireung Cultural Festival,’ promoted as part of the Joseon Royal Tombs Cultural Belt project, will reconnect the royal tombs with the local community and serve as an opportunity for integration and coexistence between Uireung and residents through performances and program participation.”

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, said, “Uireung, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a valuable local heritage with outstanding scenery and significance that requires preservation. It is meaningful that residents, as descendants, hold a local festival to promote Uireung with pride and determination. The administration will actively support this intention.”

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced on the 14th that it will hold the ‘Nowon Moonlight Walk,’ which will illuminate Danghyeoncheon with splendid lights on an autumn night.

Now in its third edition, the ‘Nowon Moonlight Walk’ is an event exhibiting various artistic lanterns and light sculptures on the surface and banks of Danghyeoncheon. This year, it will showcase a total of 35 works and over 120 pieces, including hanji (traditional Korean paper) art lanterns, light sculptures, media art, and VR content.

During last year’s exhibition period, about 140,000 people visited, with an average of 8,000 visitors daily. Despite the pandemic, it established itself as a representative walk-through public art festival where anyone can safely enjoy art.

This year’s theme for Nowon Moonlight Walk is ‘Crossing the Milky Way.’ Inspired by the motif of the ‘half-moon’ crossing the Milky Way guided by the morning star, it embodies residents’ wishes and hopes to overcome the difficult COVID-19 situation and move toward the future. The theme ‘Crossing the Milky Way’ is divided into three sub-themes that unfold the story.

In Zone 1, ‘Half-moon’s Journey,’ visitors start traveling with fish in Kim Jae-sung’s work. Visitors can feel the weightlessness of space and enjoy a meditative experience through this piece expressing schools of sardines and sea turtles swimming in rotation. Through Jung Young-doo’s work, visitors can also encounter the Milky Way flowing alongside Danghyeoncheon.

In Zone 2, ‘Beyond the Milky Way,’ visitors can see Sung Dong-hoon’s ‘Sound Tree.’ This iron tree is adorned with ceramic wind chimes that produce unfamiliar yet fresh sounds whenever the wind blows. There is also Yoo Dae-young’s ‘Morning Star Observatory,’ which uses VR glasses to simulate the actual universe, offering visitors up to three minutes of imaginative experience as if they are in an unknown world.

In Zone 3, ‘To the Unknown World,’ Kim I-bak’s ‘Plant Station’ is displayed. This work gathers sick and ailing plants inside a greenhouse with lighting and drawing artworks, prompting visitors to reflect once again on past landscapes and their hidden sides. Jeon Young-il’s ‘Fire Staring Chair’ reinterprets ‘fire staring,’ a new play culture that emerged during COVID-19, into an endemic version. When visitors gather in front of the campfire at Danghyeoncheon, the light gradually grows, transforming the experience into a shared fire staring rather than a solitary one.

This year’s Moonlight Walk also exhibits seven collaborative works created by local youth and residents with artists through the public art participation program ‘Moonlight Greeting’ held last month. Among them, the collaborative work with Jungwon Middle School students, ‘Hello, Thank You for Everything,’ is a large mask sculpture where visitors write messages on-site to complete the artwork together, concluding the long journey with messages of joy and vitality.

Resident docents and artists will also be present on-site. The ‘Moonlight Narrators (resident docents)’ gather every evening at 7 PM at Nowon Math Culture Center during the festival period and provide explanations about the installations for one hour. From the 15th, every Friday and Saturday at 6 PM and 7 PM, ‘Conversations with Artists’ sessions will be held, where one artist team per session communicates with visitors in front of their representative works.

The ‘2022 Nowon Moonlight Walk’ runs for 17 days from the 14th to the 30th, from 6 PM to 10 PM daily. The opening ceremony starts at 5:30 PM on the 14th with the ‘Fire Goblin’ performance by the Art Fire Gallery at the Danghyeoncheon floor fountain near Seongseo University. From the 15th, the ‘Garden of Fire’ performances will be held at the same location every Friday and Saturday at 7 PM and 8 PM.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “The Nowon Moonlight Walk awaits you each year with richer and more diverse attractions,” adding, “I hope it will be a time to enjoy the atmosphere of Danghyeoncheon bathed in moonlight with your walking companions and to gift each other memories and hope.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Moon Heon-il) will hold the ‘7th Guro Youth Festival’ on the 15th from 10 AM to 9 PM.

Guro-gu stated on the 11th, “The ‘Guro Youth Festival’ is held annually to provide a place where youth can freely express their dreams and talents and communicate. After conducting the festival online for the past two years due to COVID-19, it has been prepared again as an in-person event this year.”

This festival, involving youth and residents together, will be held under the theme ‘Global Citizens, Offering Umbrellas to Each Other’ across Guro Jungang-ro area, Guro Middle School, Yeongnim Middle School, Yeongseo Middle School, and various locations throughout Guro.

For safety, the district will fully close roads along Guro Jungang-ro and deploy safety personnel throughout the event venues.

The festival will begin at 3 PM with the ‘Youth Autonomy Proclamation Ceremony,’ followed by the ‘Street Play Parade’ along Guro Jungang-ro. Ten teams will march holding umbrellas in symbolic colors themed on respect, people, freedom, harmony, mutuality, diversity, coexistence, unity, and togetherness. About 200 youths will also perform a large flash mob to the festival’s theme song.

From 11 AM to 5 PM, various booths such as the ‘Guro Youth Joint Orchestra,’ ‘Whole Village Playground,’ ‘Campaign,’ ‘Fringe Stage,’ and ‘Busking’ will be open. The ‘Whole Village Playground’ offers various play areas including recycling play, traditional games, global games, and woodworking play. The ‘Autonomous Booth’ zone will feature experience booths such as board game making, eco pouch decorating, school promotion booths, youth labor rights counseling, health walking challenges, and board games, along with campaigns and experiences by the Guro Environmental Education Center and Fair Trade Council. Additionally, the ‘Fringe Stage’ will host performances like Nanta, cheerleading, and traditional plays by middle and high school students, lifelong learning clubs, and students from the Guro Youth Culture and Arts Center. The ‘Busking’ zone will feature performances by youth bands.

At Guro Middle School, a ‘Creative Convergence Competition’ themed on 4th Industrial Revolution fields such as drones, robots, and metaverse will be held, along with a ‘Student Science Festival’ by school science clubs offering various science experiences. The ‘Saturday Experience School Festival’ and ‘Lifelong Learning Club Festival’ with experience booths and performances will also take place.

Notably, the festival newly includes a ‘Youth Sports Day,’ with basketball, soccer, and other games held at Yeongnim Middle School and Yeongseo Middle School.

A Guro-gu official said, “Since many youths directly planned and the community prepared this festival together, we expect it to be a diverse and rich event,” adding, “We hope this festival will be a time for harmony beyond generations and national boundaries.”