Joyful Shopping Experience... May 'Donghaeng Festival' Opens in Busan

May 1-3 Haeundae, Small and Medium Enterprises and Small Business Products Consumption Promotion May Opening Event

About 50 Attendees Including Mayor, Minister of SMEs and Startups, and Haeundae District Mayor Celebrate Opening

The opening event of the ‘Donghaeng Festival,’ the largest domestic consumption promotion event for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, will be held from May 1 to 3 in the Gunam-ro area of Haeundae-gu.

The May Donghaeng Festival opens in Busan.

Now in its fifth year, the Donghaeng Festival is held three times annually in May, September, and December. This May’s Donghaeng Festival will run from May 1 to 28, featuring a variety of events nationwide, overseas, and both online and offline during this period.

Starting with the opening event held in Busan, product promotion fairs linked with various regional festivals and events across the country in culture, arts, tourism, and food will be conducted. It is expected to serve as a catalyst for revitalizing the local economy and boosting domestic demand.

In particular, this year’s Donghaeng Festival slogan was chosen as ‘Salmatnaneun Haengbok Shopping’ (Happy Shopping Worth Living For) 2024 Donghaeng Festival, reflecting the meaning that citizens can purchase good products at affordable prices, SMEs and small business owners can increase sales, and everyone can be happy.

The opening ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. on May 1 at the special outdoor stage on Gunam-ro, Haeundae-gu. About 50 people, including Mayor Park, Oh Young-joo, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Kim Seong-su, Mayor of Haeundae-gu, representatives from distribution platform companies, and heads of associations and organizations related to small business owners, will attend to celebrate the opening.

Additionally, a ceremony and support performances cheering for small business owners will be prepared at the opening ceremony, creating a festive atmosphere shared by citizens and small business owners.

Following this, to embody the meaning of ‘revitalizing the local economy and boosting domestic demand,’ sales and promotional booths for SME and small business products will be operated on Gunam-ro for three days from the opening day to May 3. During this period, various events such as discount markets, flea markets, Donghaeng cafes, photo zones, street performances (busking), and prize events will also be held.

At the Baeknyeon Gage (Century-old Store) booth, products from Busan’s century-old stores, including Goni Tang and Baeknyeon Dwaeji Gukbap, as well as nine types of nationwide century-old store meal kits, will be sold. The promotional booth will also showcase excellent products from Sodam Sanghoe and Sodam Square. Moreover, at the Donghaeng Cafe, visitors can taste Donghaeng beverages developed by the National Cafe Owners Cooperative and local farms free of charge.

A discount market where agricultural, livestock, and marine products, which have recently become burdensome due to rising prices, can be purchased at affordable prices will be operated in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Additionally, 13 SME and small business companies from the Busan area will participate in the flea market for three days, offering a variety of unique local products.

To enhance the event atmosphere, diverse street performances will be held on Gunam-ro, Haeundae-gu, from May 1 to 3.

On the opening day, a live commerce studio set up on-site by Public Home Shopping will conduct sales broadcasts to convey the atmosphere of the Donghaeng Festival, and special discount benefits will be offered during the broadcast.

In addition to the sales broadcasts, on-site purchase events are also prepared. To stimulate consumption, generous prizes will be given to those who purchase items at nearby stores in Haeundae-gu or at the Gunam-ro event site.

Details about various product discounts and events during the Donghaeng Festival can be found on the official Donghaeng Festival website or through the KakaoTalk ‘Donghaeng Festival’ channel.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun said, “I hope this Donghaeng Festival will breathe new life into the frozen domestic demand sentiment and local economy caused by the prolonged triple high (high inflation, high interest rates, and high exchange rates), and especially through this opening event, I hope the warmth of domestic demand recovery starting in Busan will spread densely across the country.” He added, “Our city will continue to do its best to revitalize the local economy and boost domestic demand to resolve the difficulties faced by local small business owners and SMEs.”