Goryeong County, World Heritage Festival 'Gaya Tumuli' Kicks Off

Forgotten Gaya Civilization Remembered Through Ancient Tomb Clusters

The "2024 World Heritage Festival - Gaya Tumuli," held to commemorate the first anniversary of the inscription of the Gaya Tumuli, a heritage that proves the forgotten history of Gaya, opened on the 23rd in Goryeong-gun, the capital of the Great Gaya Kingdom.

The "2024 World Heritage Festival - Gaya Tumuli" is a national event designed to provide opportunities to experience and promote the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the Gaya Tumuli. It is hosted by the National Heritage Administration, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Goryeong-gun, and organized by the National Heritage Promotion Institute and the Goryeong-gun Tourism Association.

About 500 people, including Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, Lee Kyunghoon, Deputy Director of the National Heritage Administration, Lee Byunghwan, Mayor of Seongju-gun, heads of institutions and organizations, and local residents, attended the event to celebrate the opening of the World Heritage Festival.

The event began with a traditional ritual for the excavation of Tomb No. 5 in Jisan-dong, the largest tomb of Great Gaya and known as Geumrim Royal Tomb. Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do, Lee Namcheol, Mayor of Goryeong-gun, Lim Jongdeok, Director of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Lee Cheolho, Chairman of the Goryeong-gun Council, and Noh Seonghwan, Member of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council, presided over the ritual to pray for the safety of the excavation.

To mark the first anniversary of the Gaya Tumuli's inscription as a World Heritage Site, a rope-braiding performance symbolizing the unity and coexistence of the Gaya Confederacy was held, followed by a congratulatory performance by Shin Munhee, singer of "Beautiful Country."

Under the theme "Forgotten Gaya Civilization, Remembered Through Gaya Tumuli," which encapsulates the inscription criteria of the Gaya Tumuli, the festival will be held from the 23rd to October 6th for two weeks, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., in the Jisan-dong Tumuli area of Goryeong.

The festival consists of a total of 10 individual programs. The value-experience programs include: ▲Traditional Ritual for Geumrim Royal Tomb Excavation ▲1st Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony ▲Light of Great Gaya Project ▲Gayageum Ensemble ▲Falling for Jisan-dong. The value-spreading programs include: ▲My Jisan-dong Tumuli Exploration ▲Gaya in Goryeong! Talk Concert ▲Banquet of Great Gaya ▲Mystery of Great Gaya (Secrets of the Tombs) ▲Writing My Own History of Great Gaya.

In addition, various related events such as the Great Gaya Culture and Arts Festival and the Cultural Heritage Night Tour will be held during the festival period. During the Cultural Heritage Night Tour (October 3-5), the festival will be open until 10 p.m. There will also be a special event where visitors who present a receipt of over 30,000 won from local shops in Goryeong during the festival can exchange it for a commemorative gift at the general information center.