Yeoju Ogoknaru Festival Opens with Heunam-ri Ssangyong Geojul Tug-of-War

'Yeoju Ogoknaru Festival' Led and Participated by Farmers

Ssangyong Geojul Tug-of-War scene.

Gyeonggi Yeoju City announced on the 18th that it plans to open the opening event starting with the Ssangyonggeo Tug-of-War parade, organized by the Yeoju Agricultural Association Council, to promote the 2024 Yeoju Ogoknaru Festival. This festival will be conducted in a way that is led and participated in by farmers.

The Ssangyonggeo Tug-of-War in Heunam-ri, Jeomdong-myeon, Yeoju, is a traditional folk game that was held in the past in Heunam-ri to pray for a bountiful harvest and to ward off misfortune for the year. This folk game won the Presidential Award at the 28th National Folk Contest in the 1980s.

Kim Hyuntae, president of the Yeoju Agricultural Association Council and a native of Jeomdong-myeon, said that it is very moving to see the memories of attending the National Folk Contest in his twenties being recreated at this year’s Yeoju Ogoknaru Festival.

Jung Geonsu, head of the Technology Planning Division, said, "2024 will be a meaningful year in which Yeoju’s three representative major folk games?Heunam-ri Ssangyonggeo Tug-of-War, Wonburi Dabgyo Play, and Bondu-ri Nakhwa Play?will all be reenacted," adding, "We will continue to promote the historical significance of Yeoju rice."