Will Outdoor Neighborhood Festivals Revive in Seoul?

Nowon-gu Village Community Festival and Flea Market Held, Followed by Outdoor Events for Jungnang-gu and Yongsan-gu Residents' Day with Online Streaming; Increasing Outdoor Festivals Expected to Boost Local Economy While Ensuring Personal Hygiene

Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok is attending the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail Flea Market event, talking with merchants about their products.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Neighborhood festivals (events) in Seoul are coming back to life.

Seoul's district village festivals, which were unthinkable during COVID-19, are gradually being held outdoors as social distancing measures have been lowered to level 1.

Although still in the early stages with only minimal attendance and online broadcasts, the situation has greatly improved compared to before.

On the 17th, Nowon-gu held the ‘Village Community Festival’ and the ‘Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail Flea Market’ at the famous Danghyeoncheon Stream and Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail, respectively.

The ‘Village Community Festival’ opened at 10 a.m. This year marks the 6th festival, held at the Danghyeoncheon ground fountain (near Korea Bible University), and was conducted both online and offline due to COVID-19.

Online, starting at 11:30 a.m., interviews and performances by village support activists and project managers were broadcast on the YouTube channel (Nowon Village Community Support Center). Stories were shared about how activities as village support activists contribute to personal growth and the community, along with guitar and choir performances by village project managers.

Following that, from 1 p.m., a flea market was held in front of the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail Visitor Center. Named the ‘Chuchu Market’ to evoke the sound of trains that used to run on the Gyeongchun Line, the event ran until 9 p.m. that day, exhibiting and selling 14 types of creative handmade crafts such as knitting, accessories, tumblers, and shopping bags.

Oh Seung-rok, the district mayor, said, “I hope this will be a joyful time where village activists and residents, tired from COVID-19, can comfort each other and gain vitality.”

Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) held the Yongma Waterfall Online Cultural Arts Festival at Yongma Waterfall Park at 7 p.m. on the 17th.

On this day, Mayor Ryu said, “This year’s Yongma Waterfall Cultural Arts Festival is a festival that shares warmer hearts than ever before. I sincerely thank everyone who joined this new form of online festival.”

Held under the theme ‘Connecting Hope, Connecting Warmth,’ the Yongma Waterfall Online Cultural Arts Festival was divided into three parts and conducted non-face-to-face to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including an award ceremony for proud district residents.

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Sung Chang-hyun) held the Yongsan Residents’ Day event on the 16th at the Yongsan US military base (Yongsan Park), which returned to Korean hands after 116 years.

Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan District, is encouraging the recipients of the Yongsan District Residents' Awards.

Considering the COVID-19 situation, the district conducted the event in a non-face-to-face format, minimizing the number of attendees, and streamed the entire event live on YouTube.

Mayor Sung Chang-hyun presented awards to the proud Yongsan residents’ award recipients.

Additionally, from the 6th to the 19th, Mayor Sung has been strengthening contact with residents by holding small-scale meetings with representatives from 16 neighborhoods. During these meetings, he listened to local issues and suggestions and discussed ways to revitalize the local economy, which has been depressed due to COVID-19.

Conducting events where people gradually gather while thoroughly practicing personal quarantine is expected to help revitalize the local economy.

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