[Digging Travel] A Fortress Bathed in Light and History: Seosan Haemieupseong Festival

22nd Seosan Haemieupseong Festival Blends Tradition, Future, and Experience
A Safe Space for Family Experiences
A Stage Connecting Art, History, and Local Traditions

The evening sunlight seeped over the stone wall, streaming through the gaps of the ancient fortress. The laughter of children cut across the lawn, while parents, reclining on beanbag sofas in front of Cheongheojeong Pavilion, breathed in the breeze. The performances and hands-on activities that continued since midday took on a different character as the sun set, and in those moments, Haemieupseong revealed itself not merely as a relic, but as a living stage in the present.

On top of the fortress walls, layers of time overlapped, and the footsteps of people seemed to walk upon those eras. Children ran until they were breathless and then fell into a deep sleep, while parents closed their eyes, entrusting their children to the festival staff. The festival’s slogan, “We’ll Take Care of Your Children,” felt less like a promotional phrase and more like a social promise, completed by safety personnel, child safety wristbands, and health management. Through the festival, Haemieupseong embraced visitors as a home, a plaza, a playground, and a sacred site all at once.

Media Art Illuminates a 600-Year-Old Fortress

On the morning of the 26th, when the opening ceremony was held, a special stage in front of the 600-year-old fortress gathered the mayor of Seosan, the governor of Chungnam Province, and about 20,000 citizens and tourists. The Montenegro Crna Gora Folk Ensemble and the Seosan City Choir delivered lively pre-ceremony performances, and the opening act-combining holograms and XR drawing-brought Haemi’s history and its figures to life upon the fortress walls.

22nd Seosan Haemieupseong Festival, Media Art View at Jinnammun Gate on the 26th. Provided by Seosan Cultural Foundation

At night, the fortress transformed into a giant screen. As the media art performance “600 Years of Haemi, Singing with Light” began, holograms and lights overlapped, and the choir’s voices were etched into the fortress stones. For a moment, the ancient fortress wore the face of the future, and people were immersed in the illusion of crossing centuries.

The next day, inside Haemieupseong, a royal procession reenacting King Taejong of Joseon took place. The sound of drums resonated, and a traditional wedding was held beneath a crimson canopy. When a real couple participated in the wedding ceremony, the performance transcended mere reenactment and became a living narrative.

22nd Seosan Haemieupseong Festival Opening Ceremony Montenegro Crna Gora Folk Ensemble Performance. Provided by Seosan Cultural Foundation

Beside the fortress gate stood a massive turtle-shaped wagon (Gucheo), a 16th-century land assault vehicle invented by the Seosan-born general An Yeol. It could carry thirty soldiers inside, with spears and swords mounted on the exterior and a cannon fitted on the turtle’s head. Military scholar Lee Wonseung explained, “One was for land, the other for the sea,” describing the turtle wagon alongside Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s turtle ship. On the wall next to the exhibit hung drawings of the turtle wagon by elementary school students; the clumsy crayon lines, more than any record, vividly sparked the imagination, and in this way, history is revived through today’s perspectives.

That evening, the Hyundai Motor Group Philharmonic Orchestra took the stage, blending music with archival footage. Scenes of Chairman Chung Ju-yung’s “Cattle Drive to North Korea” and images from Seosan’s industrial sites unfolded with the performance, expanding local memories into a national narrative.

Children participating in the rice cake pounding experience at the Seosan Haemieupseong Festival pounding rice cakes directly with artisans. Provided by Seosan Cultural Foundation

During the day, children burst into laughter at the rice cake pounding and traditional costume photo zones, while elders stood before the papal photo exhibition, reminiscing about the past. On one side, memories of generations flowed; on the other, children’s play unfolded, all overlapping within the same space.

On the final day of the festival, the 28th, an EDM party, the children’s musical “Haemiya, Let’s Play!”, and the “Robocar Poli Sing-Along Show” with popular characters are scheduled. Stages connecting tradition and modernity, and a total of 38 programs for all ages, will fill the festival grounds, promising a finale where children’s shouts, parents’ applause, and elders’ smiles come together.

Performance of the choir at the opening ceremony of the 22nd Seosan Haemieupseong Festival. Provided by Seosan Cultural Foundation

Where Laughter and Suffering Coexist... A Fortress with Its Original Form Intact

Haemieupseong is both a festival stage and a sacred site of faith. The visit by Pope Francis, who passed away in April this year, during his 2014 trip to Korea, was no coincidence. During the persecution from 1866 to 1872, over 1,000 believers were tortured and lost their lives here. The 300-year-old pagoda tree next to Jinnammun Gate still bears traces of iron wires, and outside the fortress at Jarigaedol, the souls of those martyred by flogging are buried. The Vatican designated this place as an international pilgrimage site in 2020 and officially proclaimed it in 2021. Today, the festival’s laughter and the pain of the past overlap, allowing Haemieupseong to embrace both the joy of the present and the weight of memory.

Haemieupseong is considered one of the three major walled towns alongside Nagan-eupseong in Suncheon and Gochang-eupseong. Construction began in 1417 during King Taejong’s reign and was completed during King Seongjong’s era, serving as the military center of Chungcheong Province for over 230 years. Admiral Yi Sun-sin also served here as a military officer for ten months in 1579. Within the 5-meter-high, 1.8-kilometer-circumference fortress walls, the command post, guesthouse, inner quarters, prison, and traditional houses have been restored, revealing a different era with every step. The inner quarters, with their classic hanok beauty, even served as a filming location for the drama “Mr. Sunshine.”

The view of Ganwolam in Seosan, Chungnam, dyed red by the sunset. Provided by Seosan City

Another landscape of Seosan, Ganwolam Temple, is a small hermitage that becomes an island when the tide rises and reveals a path when it recedes. At high tide, it floats like a lotus blossom, earning the name “Yeonhwadae.” At sunset, the sea, the hermitage, and the western sea’s afterglow combine to create a scene that borders on the fantastical. Entwined with the legend of the monk Muhak, who practiced asceticism here, and the origin of fermented oyster sauce, the site continues to hold the Goolbureugi Gunwangje Festival, praying for a bountiful harvest.

From the cheers of the opening, the ongoing processions, to the final stage yet to come, Haemieupseong now stands as a living fortress where past and present, daily life and festival, war and faith, all breathe together.