My Name is Jangmi Event's First Winner is Jangmi from Gwangju
With the theme “With the Roses, We Are All Roses,” the 14th Gokseong World Rose Festival promised a feast of roses and grandly opened its curtain on the 17th.
Gokseong-gun announced that on the afternoon of the 17th at 5 p.m., the 14th Gokseong World Rose Festival kicked off its ten-day journey until the 26th with a spectacular musical-themed opening performance at the central stage of the Seomjingang Train Village.
This year’s festival began with a musical planned performance where all tourists joyfully and excitedly participated together, singing along to the song “You Are Like a Rose,” without a separate opening ceremony.
With the lead by Lee Sang-cheol, the governor of Gokseong-gun, and Yoon Young-gyu, chairman of the Gokseong County Council, all tourists united to passionately sing the theme song, raising the excitement of the opening ceremony, followed by a dynamic opening with performers’ dazzling stage acts.
The Gokseong County Youth Orchestra and world-renowned baritone Kim Ki-hoon, a native of Gokseong, were specially invited to perform at the beginning and end of the opening stage, completing the opening event.
‘
The Romantic Rose Concert’ featured Na Young, a native of Gokseong from Mistrot 3, who delivered a cute and charming performance, and Lin, the queen of OSTs, beautifully adorned the first night of the Rose Festival.
The first grand prize winner of the nationwide rose-calling event “My Name is Rose,” newly introduced this year, was Ms. Rose from Gwangju Metropolitan City. Ms. Rose, who visited the festival site with her family, said, “I came to the Rose Festival with my family, and I was surprised to find such an event. It’s very exciting and I’m grateful.”
Other side events include the main prize event “Find the Lucky Golden Rose,” held daily, and the “Dress Code RED,” where visitors wearing red clothes and posting on SNS receive souvenirs, continuing due to last year’s popularity.
This year, the festival expanded beyond the Seomjingang Train Village to include Seomjingang Fairy Tale Garden, Gokseong Children’s Library, the Community Center, and Gallery 107, preparing a festival where locals and visitors can experience and enjoy together.
During weekends of the festival period, cello busking performances will be held at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the Fairy Tale Garden, set against a 100,000-pyeong rye field backdrop.
The Gokseong Children’s Library, opened last April, has prepared paper collage “Heart Flowers,” Bohemian marimba performances, and immersive fairy tale experiences to coincide with the Rose Festival.
This year, especially aiming to create a “festival without disposable products,” a system providing reusable containers in the food zone along with washing, collecting, and transporting them was introduced.
On the first day of the festival, reusable items were smoothly gathered in the reusable container collection boxes, and a noticeable reduction in waste was confirmed.
A county official said, “We thoroughly prepared the operation of the food zone through multiple meetings with local residents before the festival. Although we had many concerns, once it started, the amount of disposable products and waste significantly decreased, which is gratifying. We will pay even more attention to management on weekends when tourists flock in.”
Gokseong-gun is also selling carefully cultivated rose potted plants at the rose souvenir shop and glass greenhouse.
A tourist said, “I love roses, and since the festival site sells fresh roses grown directly by the county, I bought some. The scent is good, and just thinking about seeing these gorgeous roses in my home garden makes me happy,” expressing joy.
On the opening day, which showcased the unity of tourists and locals, about 17,300 people visited the festival site despite it not being a weekend.
Currently, the 75,000-square-meter rose garden at Seomjingang Train Village is blooming with world-class roses from Europe and other regions, rarely seen in Korea.
Meanwhile, the Gokseong World Rose Festival was recognized for its differentiated content and identity in February and was selected as a “2024?2025 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Preliminary Festival.” It is also a representative festival of Jeollanam-do in 2024.
The festival site, Seomjingang Train Village, is located at 232 Gicha Village, Ogok-myeon, Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do. The admission fee is 5,000 won, and ticket sales at Seomjingang Train Village run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the festival period.
Gokseong = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Cha Jong-seon hss79@asiae.co.kr
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