Recognition of Cultural Value and Tourism Marketability, National Funding and Professional Consultation Support
Festival Harmonizing Tradition and Modernity, Opening Possibilities for Character-Centered Content Festivals
Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Woo Seung-hee) announced on the 20th that the ‘Yeongam Wangin Cultural Festival’ has been selected as a ‘2024-2025 Korea Representative Cultural Tourism Festival’ by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The Korea Representative Cultural Tourism Festival was selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism through a comprehensive evaluation of nationwide festivals held this year, including expert written and on-site assessments, tourist awareness and satisfaction, and local resident support and response.
Among these, the written and on-site evaluations involved multifaceted reviews focusing on content distinctiveness, festival organization and management capabilities, contribution to the local community, and safety management systems.
Yeongam-gun’s Wangin Cultural Festival was once again recognized for its cultural value and tourism marketability, following its selection in 2020-2021 after competing with numerous domestic festivals.
Considering that festivals nationwide were not held due to COVID-19 during this period, the Yeongam Wangin Cultural Festival has effectively been selected as a Korea Representative Cultural Tourism Festival for two consecutive times.
Celebrating its 24th edition this year, the Wangin Cultural Festival received favorable reviews for harmonizing long-standing traditions with new trends, such as enhancing nighttime programs by installing landscape lighting throughout the festival grounds.
Coinciding with the festival period and the spring flower blooming season, it was evaluated as providing healing and memories to 890,000 festival visitors, alleviating the pain caused by COVID-19 that had suppressed the public for over four years.
In particular, Yeongam-gun achieved a milestone this year by confirming the potential for the Yeongam Wangin Cultural Festival to evolve from a person-centered festival to a content-centered festival.
Based on this, starting from next year’s festival, the focus will shift from the figure of Wangin to the characters, typography, books, and values conveyed by Wangin, organizing various contents under themes such as humanities, environment, friendship, and exchange.
Additionally, the festival plans to guarantee resident participation in planning and operation, increase opportunities to see, enjoy, and eat, thereby driving local economic revitalization.
With the selection as a Korea Representative Cultural Tourism Festival, Yeongam-gun will receive national funding support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, as well as professional consultation on promotion, marketing, and improving hospitality readiness during 2024-2025.
Yeongam-gun plans to conduct events encouraging public visits, attracting foreign tourists, and promoting tourism products and festivals with support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Governor Woo Seung-hee stated, “The success of the festival held face-to-face for the first time in four years was thanks to the participation and support of the residents and 160,000 hometown supporters,” adding, “Taking this opportunity of being selected as a Korea Representative Cultural Tourism Festival, we will prepare the Wangin Cultural Festival more substantively as a sustainable and competitive festival, an event driving the local economy, and a global ecological and historical cultural festival enjoyed by people worldwide.”
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