Korea's local festivals thanks to their own features

The Dong-A Ilbo, Dong In & Com, the International Festivals and Events Association’s Asia chapter held a seminar on the globalization of festivals in Korea on Saturday at the Artee Hall of Sejong Cultural Center, Seoul in celebration of the K-Festival 2019. The meeting shared successful stories of Boryeong Mud Festival, Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival and Gimje Jipyeongseon Festival, which all are equipped with factors of globe-wide festivals.

The Boryeong Festival Tourism Foundation’s Secretary-General Lee Yong-yeol said that half the 500,000 non-Korean nationals who visited last year’s mud festival came from overseas, citing killer content that allows for deviation and expertise of specialists in festivals as the secret to success. Planning Director Seok Jang-ho of Jinju Culture Arts Foundation showed his commitment to upgrading the artistic designs of Korean traditional lights to make the festival more globalized. Global manager Kang Ki-soo of Gimje City revealed that Gimje Jipyeongseon Festival gave the city a chance to make an exclusive agreement on rice supply with Korea’s largest convenience store chain, earning an yearly sales of 26 billion won.

Min Kyung-seok, head of the National Tourism division at Korea Tourism Organization, emphasized that festivals can go global when a system is built to realize regional identity and nurture festival-related specialists. IFEA Asia President Jung Kang-hwan, serving as dean of Tourism Management Festival and Hotel at Pai Chai University, remarked that a win-win strategy has to be set and implemented among the government, festival executives and regional residents.


Ki-Jin Lee doyoce@donga.com