2020 Jungnang Rose Untact Festival...

Due to COVID-19, Seoul Rose Festival canceled; various online contents prepared... 'Hope Flower Talk Concert,' 'Jungnang Artist Online Busking Performance,' etc. revealed via Jungnang-gu Office SNS channels... 'Home Talent Show EVENT' community participation program held

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Chunrae Bulsachun (春來不似春)

Social distancing due to COVID-19 is still ongoing. Spring has come, but it does not feel like spring.

Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) is bustling with visitors every May for the Rose Festival. At Jungnang Rose Park, people of all ages stand in front of the camera with bright smiles like roses against the backdrop of beautiful flowers, pressing the shutter one after another.

Jungnang Rose Park, where 10 million roses bloom along the 5.15 km rose tunnel from Mukdonggyo to Jangpyeonggyo bridges over Jungnangcheon Stream, is a famous spot in Seoul where you can enjoy beautiful roses fitting its name in May.

Just because the name includes "rose" does not mean there are only roses. Cherry blossoms also bloom along the Jungnangcheon Stream path, and yellow canola flowers proudly display their beauty along the walking trails.

Various sculptures harmonized with flowers such as the Rose Goddess are another attraction. The night scenery, a feast of flower lights blended with illumination, is also worth seeing. To fully experience the abundance of flowers, there is no better festival, and Jungnang Rose Park is packed with spring visitors with no space to step. It is not difficult to find foreign tourists as well. In 2019 alone, 2.02 million visitors enjoyed the Rose Festival, making it a representative festival of Seoul.

The awards of the Rose Festival are as splendid as the flowers of Jungnang Rose Park. Since 2017, it has won the Korea Festival Content Grand Prize for three consecutive years, as well as the Korea Marketing Award and Big Data Festival Award, shining as much as its reputation.

The global unexpected adversity of COVID-19 forced social distancing that made spring outings impossible. Although the Rose Festival had to keep its distance from its beauty this year due to COVID-19, Jungnang-gu is attracting attention by preparing an untact festival.

First, the district prepared the ‘Hope Flower Talk Concert’ and ‘Jungnang Artist Online Busking’ to comfort the hearts of residents tired from COVID-19 and to enjoy various cultural performances.

The ‘Hope Flower Talk Concert’ is a talk concert by an indie band performance team, broadcast in early May in a YouTube streaming format. The ‘Jungnang Artist Online Busking’ features videos of songs, performances, and acts by eight artist teams active in the region, released twice on May 15 and 22 through Jungnang-gu’s YouTube, SNS, and the Seoul Rose Festival homepage.

Along with this, a resident participation program called ‘Banggu-seok Talent Show EVENT’ will also be held. Talent show videos (within 5 minutes) can be submitted via email (outseo@jn.go.kr) from April 27 to May 8. Selected residents through internal screening and resident voting (likes and views) can receive prizes such as gift certificates or gifticons.

The official BI of the 2020 Rose Festival is also interesting. The district introduced a blue rose as the official BI for this Rose Festival. The blue rose symbolizes miracles and hope, carrying the meaning of wishing to be hope to overcome COVID-19.

Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “I hope this untact Rose Festival combined with culture and arts will be a comforting time for tired hearts,” and added, “It will be a new opportunity for young artists struggling due to COVID-19 and a new form of festival where residents can enjoy performances and roses.”

In April, the district produced a ‘Banggu-seok Concert’ using performance videos of singers who appeared in the 2019 Seoul Rose Festival and Yongma Waterfall Culture and Arts Festival, making it available on Jungnang-gu’s official SNS channels.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.