Why Did Lee Chan-won Sing in Ulsan... With 1,100 Local Festivals, Is It 'No Fun'? [No Fun City]

[No Fun, Searching for Fun in the City]
<3>The Difficult Escape from 'No Fun'
① 1,170 Festivals Nationwide... 32% Increase in 5 Years
Uniform Festivals Cannot Transform Cities into Fun Spots
Temporary Attendance Success but Failure in Sustainability

Editor's NoteAre you familiar with so-called 'No-Jam Cities,' meaning boring cities? These are cities lacking things to do, see, and enjoy, where locals feel bored and people from other regions rarely visit. Since 2019, various cities have been labeled as No-Jam Cities on social media platforms. What started as a kind of 'meme' for fun has evolved into local governments in places like Daejeon, Ulsan, Gwangju, and Cheongju launching 'Fun City Creation Projects.' Are cities branded as No-Jam really dull and boring? What makes a city fun? We aim to reflect on the places and spaces where we live.

"I just want to see Lee Chan-won and leave quickly"

Ms. Kim Chun-ja, a woman in her 50s who visited Ulsan’s largest summer festival, the 'Ulsan Shipbuilding and Maritime Festival (July 19?21, Ilsan Beach, Dong-gu, Ulsan),' told a reporter that she came all the way from Busan starting at 8 a.m. because of her fandom for Lee Chan-won. Although 185,000 people attended this free three-day festival, most visitors, like Ms. Kim, came briefly to listen to the invited singer’s performance rather than to enjoy the local festival itself, making the festival’s purpose?to promote Ulsan’s shipbuilding industry?seem ineffective.

On the evening of the festival’s first day, July 19, the venue was bustling with people eager to enjoy the performances. When trot singer Lee Chan-won began his show, the crowd was so dense that it was difficult for even one person to pass through. Waiting times for the public restrooms were at least 20 minutes. Nearby convenience stores were packed with people, making it hard to open and close the doors.

On the evening of July 19, when the Chosun Maritime Festival began at Ulsan Ilsan Beach, a musical performance was held amid a crowd of people. Photo by Heo Young-han

On July 19, the day the Joseon Maritime Festival began at Ulsan Ilsan Beach, surfboard models were placed on the beach as decorations. Photo by Heo Young-han

Festivals increased by 32% in 5 years... 1,170 events held this year

Regional festivals supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have steadily increased from 884 in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, to 944 in 2022, 1,129 in 2023, and 1,170 this year. The estimated budget for these 1,170 regional festivals this year (including national, local, private, and self-funded sources) amounts to 4.1334 trillion KRW. Every year, new festivals such as the Hangang Festival, Starry Sea Busan Night Festa, and Hongcheon River Starlight Music Beer Festival emerge nationwide.

The increase in festivals in South Korea is because local governments recognize festivals themselves as events that can revitalize regions by providing things to do, see, and enjoy. While festivals are planned to reflect local characteristics, the priority is to attract visitors, so local governments inevitably focus on invited singer performances, which are the easiest way to draw crowds. This is why huge budgets are invested in local government festivals.

Daejeon, Ulsan, Gwangju, and Cheongju, which have set 'Fun City' as a policy goal, also place festivals at the core of their projects. Daejeon launched the 'Midnight Festival' last year, attracting 1.09 million visitors, along with the ▲Daedeok Water Light Festival (twice a year) ▲Yuseong Hot Spring Cultural Festival (twice a year) ▲Daejeon Dong-gu Dongnak Festival ▲Daejeon Seo-gu Art Festival ▲Yuseong Chrysanthemum Exhibition, promoting these '8 major festivals' as the forefront of its Fun City project.

Festival-related signboards are posted on the streets of Daejeon City. Photo by Jeon Jin-young

Ulsan, which has held festivals like the Rose Festival, Whale Festival, Shipbuilding and Maritime Festival, and Soeburi Festival, revived its industrial festival last year after it had disappeared. The industrial festival, brought back after 35 years, attracted 700,000 people. Gwangju is pushing the 'G-Festa Gwangju Project' this year, connecting 18 festivals and exhibitions including the Gwangju Biennale, Beer Festival, and Chungjang Festival. Cheongju has held the Musimcheon Food Truck Festival during cherry blossom season since last year, drawing 800,000 visitors over two years.

Both locals and outsiders attend festivals... If attracting visitors is the goal, it's a 'success'

As seen with the 180,000 visitors flocking to the usually quiet Ilsan Beach in Ulsan, festivals are effective at drawing crowds.

An analysis of data from 86 cultural tourism festivals evaluated as pilot projects showed that visitors inside and outside the festival regions increased during festival periods. When the maximum number of visitors from the region on a single day is set to 100, the average number of visitors during the festival period was 59, which is 21 more than during non-festival periods. For locals, the number increased from 66 during non-festival periods to 84 during festivals, an increase of about 18 visitors.

The Jindo Mysterious Sea Road Festival in Jeollanam-do, known as the 'Korean version of the parting of the Red Sea,' showed the greatest visitor influx effect among the 86 festivals. Although it ranked 84th out of 86 in average daily visitors during the festival, when the maximum number of external visitors to Gogun-myeon, Jindo-gun, where the festival is held, was set to 100 on the busiest day last year, the average number of visitors during the festival was 90, compared to 18 during non-festival periods?a fivefold difference. This means many visitors come to enjoy the festival in that area.

Among the 86 festivals analyzed, 45% had more than half of their visitors as locals. For example, the Bucheon International Comics Festival, which had the highest average daily visitors at 120,000, had a relatively low proportion of outsiders and foreigners at 32.5%. This means over 80,000 locals visited the festival site daily.

Festivals without identity are full of 'controversies'

Although festivals seem to contribute to local economic revitalization by attracting tourists, there are criticisms that they rarely lead to actual profit generation. Among the 86 festivals, 20 showed a decrease in tourism spending during the festival period compared to non-festival periods. Another 10 festivals showed little difference in tourism spending between festival and non-festival periods. This means that while attracting visitors was successful, generating consumption failed.

Given this situation, there is criticism that the flood of identity-less local festivals, funded with huge budgets, does not become a source of fun for cities but rather leads to unnecessary local government financial waste. Experts point out that festivals overly dependent on famous singers or those created with large budgets just for show are difficult to sustain regularly.

The desire for short-term promotional effects sometimes leads to unnecessary controversies. Turning festivals into one-off events aiming for big profits at once has caused so-called 'price gouging' controversies. For example, in January this year, the Hongcheon River Frozen Festival faced backlash for charging 20,000 KRW for a plate of sundae (Korean blood sausage), prompting an official apology from the organizer, the Hongcheon Cultural Foundation. In March, the Jinhae Gunhangje Festival was criticized for selling two skewered fish cakes for 10,000 KRW.

Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, who made headlines for creating the Yesan Beer Festival in Chungnam last year, said at the time, "Festivals are an opportunity for the region. They are a chance to change how outsiders see us and to make them want to visit our region at least once more." He emphasized that solving the price gouging issue is the way to revive local festivals and promote the region.

To prevent truly boring cities, 'sustainability' must be considered

Ultimately, for festivals to become a lasting source of fun in a city rather than one-off events, delicate and concrete planning is crucial. Experts emphasize that festivals should be ▲centered on local residents’ voluntary participation ▲able to provide various types and levels of enjoyment ▲created by creative cultural and festival planners rather than being administration-centered.

For example, rather than investing huge budgets in expos, festivals created with local residents’ participation are seen as more advantageous in terms of city fun and sustainability. Even when inviting famous singers, efforts should be made to balance by including performances from singers or groups rooted in local culture.

Lee Chang-gil, a local planning expert and CEO of the Incheon Gaehang-ro Project, said, "If you create a festival for everyone, it becomes a festival that satisfies no one. It turns into a generic, indistinct festival." He stressed, "Planning for everyone is lazy planning. In a situation where festivals are everywhere nationwide, you need to find the unique competitiveness of your festival."

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