Naju Donggang Bongchu Deulnorae Preservation Society, Sponsored Performance
On the 17th, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, held a grand festival called ‘Neungju Dulsori’ folk performance to pray for a bountiful harvest. The event took place around Neungju-myeon’s town area, Neungju fields, and Neungju History Museum, with about 300 participants including members of the Neungju Dulsori Preservation Society, local residents, and tourists, the county announced on the 19th.
The performance began at 10 a.m. with the Neungju Nongak troupe leading the village flag parade, departing from the Neungju Welfare Center and continuing with a street procession through the town area, receiving enthusiastic responses from residents who came out onto the streets.
The rice planting performance took place in a rice paddy next to the Neungju Nonghyup Local Food store, where after a ritual to ward off rice paddy diseases, residents themselves planted rice seedlings while performing lively rice planting songs called sangsa sori.
On this day, the Donggang Bongchu Deulnorae Preservation Society from Naju participated, offering a special performance of Naju region’s field songs. This meaningful collaboration between preservation societies highlighted solidarity through the shared tradition of field songs in the Yeongsan River basin’s plains.
County Governor Koo Bok-gyu expressed his respect and gratitude to the elder members of the preservation society who have led efforts to keep the tradition of ‘Neungju Dulsori’ alive without interruption. He comforted the residents who prepared the event and stated, “The county will provide maximum support to ensure that this precious intangible cultural heritage, which embodies our region’s identity, is well preserved and passed down to future generations.”
Additionally, a tourist who came from Gwangju with their family said, “In an era where machines do the farming, it was great to show my children the scene of planting rice seedlings by hand,” and danced along with the Nongak troupe together with their children.
Meanwhile, Neungju Dulsori is designated as Hwasun-gun’s Local Cultural Heritage No. 65 and is a representative intangible heritage of Hwasun.
In particular, Neungju Dulsori won the grand prize as Hwasun-gun’s representative at last year’s Jeollanam-do Folk Arts Festival, and earned the right to compete as Jeollanam-do’s representative at the 2024 National Folk Arts Festival, recognizing its value as an intangible cultural asset.
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