Yeongdeungpo-gu Yeouiseo-ro Spring Flower Road Fully Closed for 'Online Spring Flower Festival'

Traffic Control on Yeouiseo-ro Spring Flower Road 1.7km Section from April 1-12, Pedestrian Path Closed from April 2; Online Spring Flower Festival to Feature Live Bloom and Fall Coverage, No-Audience Content; Limited Viewing 'Spring Flower Walk' Program with Pre-Registration and Lottery Selection in Controlled Area

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) will present the 2021 Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower Festival as a new concept festival.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the local community, from April 1st for 12 days, Yeouiseo-ro (behind the National Assembly building) will be fully closed to traffic along the spring flower path, and for the first time ever, an online and offline spring flower festival will be held to ensure the safety of residents from COVID-19.

Last year, the district canceled the Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower Festival and proactively closed the Yeouiseo-ro spring flower path to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the community, implementing a "spring flower social distancing" policy.

This year, as in the previous year, the Yeouiseo-ro spring flower path (1.7 km) from the southern end of Seogang Bridge to the intersection near the National Assembly Members' Office Building will be fully closed, making free visits and cherry blossom viewing difficult.

Traffic control will begin on April 1st and last for 12 days until April 12th, while pedestrian path restrictions will be in place from April 2nd to April 12th.

A particularly notable feature this year is the online 'Spring Flower Festival.'

The district is collaborating with the Yeongdeungpo Cultural Foundation and XR specialist company VIVE Studios to hold an online festival differentiated from existing online festivals.

VIVE Studios is a company that has deeply moved us through the fusion of IT technology and culture, with projects such as MBC’s ‘VR Human Documentary I Met You’ and BTS virtual concerts.

On the spring flower festival online platform, users can enjoy the festival not by passively watching content without an audience, but by entering a ‘virtual spring flower festival site’ and actively participating in the festival.

By clicking on cherry blossom petals and completing missions that signal the start of spring, users enter the ‘Forest of Spring Flowers.’ Writing messages allows them to view messages left by others in the virtual space and participate in events held at different times.

Additionally, for those unable to attend the offline spring flower festival, live broadcasts of the cherry blossom blooming and falling will be presented from various perspectives.

One of the interesting contents available at the online spring flower festival is the ‘Spring Flower Sale Festa.’ In cooperation with local businesses such as restaurants, discount coupons and information pages will be operated to promote the local economy. The ‘Spring Flower Online Market,’ selling limited edition art products for the festival, also stands out.

Furthermore, within the scope of compliance with social distancing and quarantine rules, a ‘Spring Flower Walk’ program will be operated to allow visitors to view cherry blossoms in a sufficiently dispersed manner within the controlled area, offering a message of hope and the energy of spring to citizens tired from prolonged social distancing.

The Spring Flower Walk, held for seven days from April 5th to 11th, will operate seven sessions daily from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 1 hour and 30-minute intervals.

Under the social distancing level 2 guidelines, up to 99 people including event staff can enter per session, allowing a maximum of approximately 3,500 participants over seven days.

Anyone, including socially vulnerable groups and general citizens, can view the festival by applying in advance through the spring flower festival online platform. Participants will be selected by lottery and allowed to enter the Yeouiseo-ro spring flower path for limited cherry blossom viewing.

The district will divide Yeouido into zones based on density and intensively crack down on violations of basic order such as illegal street vendors and unauthorized parking. Disinfection and sanitation will also be strengthened, with special management of areas expected to attract many visitors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure safety.

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “Based on last year’s successful spring flower social distancing control experience, this year we will implement strong order maintenance and distancing policies to prevent COVID-19, while holding a festival where we can share and deliver our ‘spring for everyone’ that has returned. I hope that the hopeful spring energy experienced at the first-ever online and offline spring flower festival, held in compliance with quarantine rules, will help overcome the COVID blues.”

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