56-Year-Old 'Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival' Canceled Due to COVID-19

The Jeongjo Grand Royal Procession, the highlight of the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, is being reenacted.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The 'Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival,' a representative festival of Gyeonggi-do with a 56-year tradition, has been canceled this year due to COVID-19.

The city of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival Promotion Committee announced on the 3rd that the '57th Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival,' scheduled to be held from the 9th to the 11th of next month, has been canceled for the safety of citizens.

Previously, the city held several meetings with the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival Promotion Committee and the Suwon Cultural Foundation to discuss plans for holding the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival.

Song Jae-deung, co-chairman of the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival Promotion Committee, said, "It is very regrettable not to be able to hold Suwon's representative festival that has continued for 56 years," adding, "We decided to cancel the event because protecting citizens' safety and complying with the government's quarantine guidelines are our top priorities."

The Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival Promotion Committee plans to post highlights of the previously held Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival and King Jeongjo's Royal Procession on the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival website (http://www.swcf.or.kr/shcf) to ease citizens' disappointment.

The 'Joint Reenactment of King Jeongjo's Royal Procession,' which was held together with the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival, has been postponed to April 24-25 next year.

A city official explained, "We considered ways to safely hold the event while complying with quarantine rules, but after the recent resurgence of COVID-19, the government's quarantine guidelines were strengthened, and social distancing was raised to level 2.5, making cancellation inevitable to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

He added, "Next year's Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival will consider new methods suitable for the post-COVID-19 era and set a direction for promotion," and "We will create a festival where citizens can participate in various ways."

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