Nowon-gu to Host the 2nd 'Car-Free Street Event'

On the 13th, experience 'healing' by filling the 555m, 7-lane round-trip road from Nowon Lotte Department Store to Sunbokum Church with bicycles, books, markets, and plants after clearing cars... Unique activities like the 'Spacing Out Contest' and 'Turtle Bicycle Race' also await

The 1st Car-Free Street BMX Bicycle Performance

Nowon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will hold the "2nd Nowon Car-Free Street Event" around Nowon Station on the 13th.

The area around Nowon Lotte Department Store, the core commercial district of Nowon-gu, will be designated as a "car-free street" on the day of the event, presenting the value of carbon neutrality and offering a unique relaxation experience in daily life.

This year, even more diverse programs have been prepared. Last year, the inaugural event attracted over 76,000 visitors.

The event is mainly composed of ▲unique healing experiences ▲bicycle culture experiences ▲book festival ▲local free market and flea market ▲and "Floral Nowon with Carbon Neutrality."

First, in the unique healing experience zone, there will be a "spacing-out contest," a magic show, and busking performances. The main event, the spacing-out contest, is a participatory performance competition where participants compete by doing nothing for 90 minutes. Performances by vocal opera and fusion music teams based in Nowon, as well as a magic show by Alexander Lee, Korea's top magic group, are also prepared.

In the bicycle culture experience zone, special aspects of the eco-friendly transportation mode, bicycles, will be introduced, showcasing both the value and fun of carbon neutrality. Along with the BMX stunt performances and unique bicycle experiences that were popular at last year's event, a new "Turtle Bicycle Race" will be held. This race, where rankings are determined by the order of the slowest arrival, is expected to offer rest to modern people tired of speed competitions.

Residents who usually ride bicycles can also receive free bicycle repairs on-site. Promotion of policies such as the "Nowon Bicycle Culture Center" and "Bicycle Parking Lot," which will begin construction this year to make bicycles more familiar in daily life, will also be conducted.

The book festival will attract children's attention with the theme of "Dung." A traditional Korean outdoor play "Dungbyerak" and a children's musical of the same name based on the late author Kwon Jeong-saeng's "Dog Dung" will be held. A book resting zone composed of bean bags and Indian tents will be set up, and an on-site vote to select the "Nowon-gu One Book" to be read with residents in 2024 will take place. Various experience booths, including the mobile library "Reading Bus," will also operate.

The local free market and flea market will be operated with the core themes of "zero waste" and "recycling." The local free market will introduce carbon-neutral up-cycling products by social enterprises, small business owners, and handicraft artists. Eco-friendly vegan foods such as vegan sandwiches, vin chaud, fair trade coffee, and tofu bagels will also be available. The flea market will have 400 teams participating, and a waste resource exchange event will be held where participants can bring used batteries or paper packs and receive new batteries and toilet paper in return.

Finally, "Floral Nowon with Carbon Neutrality" will raise residents' awareness of the climate crisis and offer various programs to participate in carbon neutrality. Various plant experiences and exhibitions as effective carbon sinks will be prepared, and environmental organizations and facilities, including the Nowon Environmental Foundation, will operate carbon neutrality experience programs. Children will also be waiting at a corner of the event site for activities such as powerless tree play and drawing on the road with chalk.

Meanwhile, the district plans to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and make the event carbon-neutral by pre-checking carbon emissions generated during the "car-free street event" and offsetting them. To this end, a "Carbon Neutrality Guide for Events" has been produced and distributed, and after going through a pre-checklist, on-site evaluation, and surveys, improvements will be made and gradually applied to future district events.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, "At the 'car-free street event,' people can experience a busy road emptied of cars symbolizing a hectic daily life, becoming the masters of the street," adding, "We will present an alternative and future-oriented model of an event that fills slow but valuable rest."