Songpa-gu Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival 'Ontact Festival' Held

September 23-27 Hansung Baekje Cultural Program Held On and Offline...Many New Online Programs for Non-Face-to-Face Communication and Shared Enjoyment

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) will hold the 20th Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival this year as an Ontact festival, adapting to the COVID-19 era with the theme "Social distance far, emotional distance close."

The "2020 Ontact Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival" is an Ontact festival, meaning non-face-to-face (Untact) but connected (On), designed to deliver messages of comfort and healing to residents exhausted by COVID-19. Various programs utilizing SNS and YouTube channels have been prepared.

The Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival is internationally recognized, having won the Pinnacle Award from the International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) for eight consecutive years, and the Grand Prize in the Festival Arts and Tradition category at the Korea Festival Content Awards for five consecutive years.

It was planned to inherit and recreate the brilliant history and culture of the Baekje Hansung period, which settled in Songpa 2,000 years ago and developed into a maritime power.

The "2020 Ontact Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival" will be held over five days from September 23 to 27, consisting of ▲ online programs with residents ▲ exhibition and academic programs ▲ social distancing on-site programs.

Additionally, live videos and video content will be broadcast so that the festival can be enjoyed regardless of location.

The most notable part of this festival is the online programs with residents.

The Ontact programs, introduced for the first time this year, are diversely planned to be enjoyed by various age groups, including ▲ online parade ▲ experiential play ▲ singing contest ▲ photo contest.

First, the "Online Parade" recreates the Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival’s "Historical and Cultural Street Procession" online, delivering the historical significance of Hansung Baekje in an engaging way. Participants receive their own Hansung Baekje character through an online personality test, share it on SNS, and as participant posts accumulate, a parade is completed.

The "Ontact Children’s Hansung Baekje Experiential Play" packages the popular Hansung Baekje experience for children into kits, which will be distributed to the first 1,000 applicants starting September 1, allowing them to enjoy it at home.

Good news for those who had no place to showcase their talents due to COVID-19! The "Ontact Hansung Baekje Singing Contest" is a program held in collaboration with digital broadcaster D’Live’s online singing contest "Youth Studio," where participants can join preliminaries and live finals online.

Pre-registration is from August 24 to September 15, and those who pass the preliminaries will participate in the live broadcast on September 22.

The "Ontact Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival Photo Contest" invites citizens who have participated in the Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival, held 19 times since 1994, to share their photos on SNS (Instagram) to share memories. It runs from August 4 to 31, and selected photos will receive prizes according to certain criteria.

Exhibition and academic programs include ▲ the nationwide children's drawing contest "Songpa x Hope Street Banner Exhibition" ▲ photo exhibition "Footsteps of the Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival" ▲ and the Great Baekje Academic Forum.

The social distancing on-site programs include ▲ "Dongmyeongje" (the 24th Baekje Tomb Festival) praying for overcoming COVID-19 ▲ Songpa Hope Concert ▲ and the "Hansung Baekje Small Cultural Festival," which allows visitors to feel the festival atmosphere while visiting places such as Seokchon Lake, Olympic Park, and Saemaeul Market.

For on-site programs, participant safety will be prioritized by appointing a chief quarantine officer and responsible officers, implementing preventive measures in advance (disinfection of facilities, provision of hand sanitizers and masks, maintaining distance between participants, etc.), and establishing a rapid response system to ensure thorough quarantine.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “In early August, we were the first local government to establish performance quarantine guidelines for the COVID-19 era and safely held large-scale performances. Building on this experience, we will prioritize resident safety and promote the 'Ontact Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival.' I hope this festival will provide cultural and emotional comfort and hope to hearts weary from COVID-19.”

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