Guro-gu Hosts the 2nd Democracy Festival 'Sympathy, GURO'

14-30th ... Gender Equality Contest, Youth Talk Show, Cooperative Governance Meeting, Democracy-related Film Screenings, etc. Organized mainly as online programs to prevent COVID-19 ... Live streaming on YouTube, Drive-in Theater, and more

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) will hold the 2nd Democracy Festival ‘Sympathy GURO’ from the 14th to the 30th.

To prevent COVID-19, the event will be conducted mainly online.

Guro-gu stated on the 14th, “We will hold the ‘Sympathy GURO’ democracy festival again this year, which received great response from residents when first held last year,” and added, “To prevent COVID-19, this year we have prepared online programs so that anyone can enjoy the democracy festival in daily life without restrictions of time and space.”

The festival is hosted by the Guro-gu Cooperation Council, Guro Public Interest Organizations Council, Guro-gu, and Guro-gu Council, and organized by the Guro-gu Democracy Festival Promotion Committee.

At the ‘Sympathy GURO’ festival, various events will be held under the theme ‘Democracy Anytime, Anywhere. Bye Corona. By Guro.’

On the first day of the festival, the 14th, a Residents’ Participatory Budget General Assembly will be held and broadcast live through the YouTube channel. Based on the voting results for residents’ preferred projects conducted from the 12th to the 14th targeting residents and local workers, the final selected projects will be announced.

The Residents’ Participatory Budget project is a direct democracy participation system where residents participate in the entire process from project proposal to decision-making to determine the next year’s budget.

From the 19th to the 28th, the ‘Democracy, Let’s Go to the Market’ event will take place. Customers who purchase goods at Guro Market, Namguro Market, Garibong Market, and Gocheok Market will receive one raffle ticket for every 30,000 KRW spent. On the 30th, a drawing will be held to provide Onnuri gift certificates.

From the 19th to the 29th, the program ‘Thinking about Democracy on the Shin Young-bok Forest Trail’ will be held. Participants can walk around Hangdong Deobureo Forest Trail and the Green Arboretum area while discussing democracy, enjoy ocarina performances, and experience natural dyeing. There will be a total of eight sessions, with about 5 to 10 participants per session considering social distancing.

Until the 23rd, a video contest on the theme ‘Gender Equality in Daily Life’ will be held, including documentaries and dramas. Outstanding works will be selected and awarded on the 28th.

On the 26th at 7 p.m., the youth relay talk show ‘ON-AIR: Doing It Because We Must’ will be held in the district office auditorium. It will be broadcast live on YouTube, and viewers can participate in real-time through comments. The event will feature lectures and communication on the theme ‘Seoul City Youth Policy and Local-Based Youth Activities.’

On the 29th at 11 a.m., ‘The Flower of Democracy, Guro-gu Cooperation Council’ will be held in the district office auditorium. Under the theme of a cooperative public forum, public and private sectors will discuss ways to solve local community problems through cooperation.

At Anyangcheon Multipurpose Square (Ogeum Bridge and parking lot), a ‘Cooperation Cinema in the Car’ drive-in theater will be set up. On the 30th, the film ‘Retrial’ will be screened, and on the 31st, ‘The Man Standing Next’ will be shown at 8 p.m. These works recall democracy in history. Residents wishing to participate can apply through the district website by the 27th. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for up to 80 cars per session. Admission is free.

On the 31st at 2 p.m., local youth council members will hold a session titled ‘Now I Decide Directly. Youth Council!’ in the district office auditorium, presenting agenda items by standing committees.

Meanwhile, Guro-gu’s first Guro Village Democracy Festival ‘Sympathy GURO’ held last year received high praise in the regional culture activation category at the Manifesto Best Practice Competition held last month and won the grand prize.

A Guro-gu official said, “Through this festival, we hope to have an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of democracy in Guro, where labor movements such as the past Guro Alliance Strikes and civil society activities were active,” and added, “We will strictly follow quarantine rules and do our best to capture diverse voices of residents by utilizing non-face-to-face participation methods.”

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