Yangsan City, Sapryang Cultural Festival 'Sapryang Whale Island'... Transformed into a New Attraction

Next Year, Offering an Enchanting Whale Island Exploration Experience with Added Storytelling

Yangsan City in Gyeongnam plans to further expand the Gukgye Bridge and Sapryang Whale Island, which were operated during this year's Yangsan Sapryang Cultural Festival, by incorporating storytelling elements next year.

Yangsansapryang Cultural Festival Sapryang Whale Island.

The Gukgye Bridge is a floating bridge installed and operated to connect the island resembling a whale (Sapryang Whale Island), created with the meaning of reproducing the log bridge that once existed over the Yangsancheon Stream.

This year, the production of the Gukgye Bridge, whale sculptures, and photo zones was sponsored by the Yangsan branch of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. Festival visitors were able to enjoy unique experiences such as walking over the Yangsancheon Stream, visiting the whale island to hang wish tags, and capturing memorable photos at the photo zones.

Festival visitors crossing Gukgye Bridge.

Despite the installation work being temporarily halted due to concerns over an approaching typhoon before the festival, the bridge was operated for only two days and still attracted high interest, with about 8,000 people using it. However, since the entire island was still overgrown with aquatic plants and there were concerns about the presence of dangerous wild animals, Sapryang Whale Island was not fully opened this year, and the viewing area was limited to a small deck, leaving some disappointment.

Accordingly, based on this year's operation results, Yangsan City plans to utilize a larger area of the island next year and provide visitors with diverse experiences by applying entertaining content through storytelling.

A Yangsan City official stated, “By inducing interest through storytelling and visually implementing various lighting and sculptures, crossing the Gukgye Bridge will feel like becoming Alice in Wonderland, entering the dreamlike world of Whale Island.”