Garden Expo Opening on March 31st After 10 Years

Breathing Future City, Suncheon Vision Reflected in Opening Ceremony

March 31, 6 PM, Dongcheon Waterside Special Stage

The opening ceremony marking the seven-month journey of the 2023 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo will be held on March 31 from 6 PM to 9 PM at the special floating stage on the Dongcheon ‘Garden on the Water’.

Organized by the Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo Organizing Committee (Chairman Noh Gwan-gyu, Mayor of Suncheon), the opening ceremony will begin with a joint performance by local artists, followed by the official events including the opening declaration, commemorative speeches, and the opening theme performance, and conclude with congratulatory performances by top domestic K-POP singers.

The ceremony will gather a total of 30,000 people, including 5,000 invited guests, 5,000 national participants, and 20,000 general citizens.

The seating is arranged at ‘Green Island,’ where an asphalt road once used by cars has been transformed into a lush garden, and ‘Ocheon Green Plaza,’ which was converted from a disaster facility into a plaza, giving special significance to the venue.

[Photo by Suncheon City]

The ceremony will gather a total of 30,000 people, including 5,000 invited guests, 5,000 national participants, and 20,000 general citizens.

The seating is arranged at ‘Green Island,’ where an asphalt road once used by cars has been transformed into a lush garden, and ‘Ocheon Green Plaza,’ which was converted from a disaster facility into a plaza, giving special significance to the venue.

The opening performance, which will be the grand finale of the event, is directed by Han Kyung-ah, who also directed the ‘Korea Night’ at the 2023 World Davos Forum.

Inspired by the story of Suncheon preserving the primordial life of the Suncheon Bay Wetlands, the performance unfolds under the theme ‘THERE & HERE, the breathing place.’

The global narrative centered on the keyword ‘coexistence’?from the birth of the Earth through the Big Bang, the emergence of human civilization, the crisis of nature, to the recovery through the vitality of the Suncheon Bay Wetlands?will be spectacularly presented through large-scale media facades, three-dimensional popup art, laser shows, and performances by 311 participants.

The opening ceremony stage itself stretches 160 meters, boasting the largest scale in the country.

With the convergence of cutting-edge science and technology and cultural and artistic capabilities, it is expected to vividly convey the values and vision that Suncheon aims to communicate through the Garden Expo.

Additionally, the post-ceremony special opening concert will feature South Korea’s top MC along with leading singers and dance crews such as Jo Sumi, Park Jung-hyun, STAYC, Proudmon, and CRAVITY, dazzling the night of the opening ceremony.

Noh Gwan-gyu, chairman and mayor of Suncheon in the 8th term, who has devoted all efforts to the successful hosting of the expo, said, “As the first water-based opening ceremony in South Korea, combining advanced media art and performing arts, it will be a stage to proclaim the vision of Suncheon as an ecological city where ecology, nature, and humans coexist, both domestically and internationally,” and added, “We look forward to nationwide interest in the opening ceremony and the Garden Expo.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr