Hwasun-gun Cancels 'Chrysanthemum Festival' Due to COVID-19 Impact

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Young-gyun] Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gu Chung-gon) announced on the 26th that the ‘Chrysanthemum Festival,’ which was scheduled to be held from October 23 to November 8, will be canceled.

On the same day, the county decided to cancel the Chrysanthemum Festival in accordance with related ordinances, as the majority of the festival promotion committee members agreed in a written meeting.

The committee meeting was conducted by collecting opinions via email and other means from the 21st to the 24th to prevent COVID-19.

Furthermore, the common opinion among the promotion committee members was that administrative efforts should be focused on blocking the spread of COVID-19 in the region due to the resurgence of COVID-19 originating from the metropolitan area and confirmed cases occurring locally.

Although there was a minority opinion suggesting creating flower beds in Namsan Park and allowing viewing, the consensus was to cancel the event to ensure the safety of residents and protect lives.

The Chrysanthemum Festival attracted more than 600,000 visitors last year and topped various portal real-time search rankings, drawing attention throughout the festival period.

Having been selected as Jeollanam-do’s representative festival for two consecutive years and receiving much love, local residents could not hide their regret over the cancellation news of the Chrysanthemum Festival.

A county official said, “We had prepared a festival to comfort residents exhausted by COVID-19, but we regret having to announce the cancellation. This year, we will concentrate all administrative efforts on blocking the spread of COVID-19 and do our best to present a more substantial festival next year.”

Meanwhile, the ‘Dolmen Cultural Festival,’ which was postponed once and scheduled to be held next month, and the ‘Jeokbyeok Cultural Festival,’ scheduled for October, were also canceled due to the impact of COVID-19.

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