Nowon-gu to Host Rice Planting Experience Event with 2024 Madeul Nongyo

On the 12th at 11 a.m., Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, held the '2024 Rice Planting Experience Event with Madeul Nongyo' at the rice farming experience site in Madeul Neighborhood Park, Nowon-gu, Seoul.

'Madeul Nongyo' is a traditional farming song sung by farmers to boost their spirits while farming in the Madeul Plain area, which was the old landscape before Nowon-gu became an apartment complex area. It is the only remaining Nongyo in Seoul. The tradition is maintained through the Madeul Nongyo Preservation Society (President Kim Wan-su, with about 50 members).

The event was attended by about 60 students from Sangcheon Elementary School and local residents, and proceeded in the order of ▲street parade, Gyeonggi folk song, Arirang, and Madeul Nongyo performances ▲learning Madeul Nongyo ▲rice planting demonstration ▲introduction of guests and greetings ▲rice planting experience.

In particular, to allow elementary school students in the area to experience our disappearing traditional culture and learn the value of labor and sweat, a rice planting experience event was prepared where participants directly entered the paddy field to plant rice seedlings.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “Madeul Nongyo and rice planting are not simply agricultural activity experiences but precious opportunities to reexamine the importance and value of our agriculture,” and added, “I am grateful to the Madeul Nongyo Preservation Society for their efforts to preserve our tradition in difficult times.”