Yeongdeungpo-gu 'Yeouido Spring Flower Festival' Fully Canceled

Published 10 Mar.2020 21:05(KST)

Updated 18 Mar.2020 15:31(KST)

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Festival Canceled for the First Time in 16 Years... Actively Joining the 'Social Distancing' Campaign for Residents' Life and Safety

Yeongdeungpo-gu 'Yeouido Spring Flower Festival' Fully Canceled

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Chae Hyun-il) has decided to fully cancel the '2020 Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower Festival (hereafter Spring Flower Festival)' originally scheduled for early April in order to protect the lives and safety of residents and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Spring Flower Festival is the district's representative festival that began in 2005 and is celebrating its 16th year this year. Last year's festival attracted a total of 5.2 million visitors, and recently it has established itself as a global festival attracting many foreign tourists as well.

Every year during the Spring Flower Festival, which draws many visitors, the district has worked closely with relevant departments to maintain basic order such as cleaning, parking, traffic, and street vendor control, creating a pleasant and beautiful festival.

Recently, COVID-19 confirmed cases have been continuously increasing, especially in the metropolitan area, and on the 10th, a large-scale cluster infection occurred at a call center in Guro-gu, Seoul.

Therefore, it is difficult for COVID-19 to be completely contained by the time the Spring Flower Festival is held in early April.

Accordingly, the district judged that the lives and safety of residents are the top priority and, as a preemptive measure to block community infection, decided after careful consideration to fully cancel the Spring Flower Festival.

Separately, the district expects that many visitors will come to Yunjung-ro when the cherry blossoms and other flowers are in full bloom, and plans to focus on maintaining functions such as cleaning, parking, traffic, and street vendor control around Yunjung-ro in preparation.

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “It is very regrettable to cancel the Spring Flower Festival, our district’s largest event, for the first time in 16 years, but above all, the lives and safety of residents come first. We ask for residents’ understanding and active cooperation, and urge everyone to participate in social distancing and the ‘Pause for a Moment’ campaign.”