Gokseong-gun Cancels World Rose Festival Due to COVID-19 Spread Impact

Only Certain Events Such as Non-Face-to-Face Videos Are Being Promoted

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 5th that it has decided to cancel the Gokseong World Rose Festival, which was scheduled to be held in late May.

The Gokseong World Rose Festival is known as the most profitable festival nationwide based on the 2017 settlement by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Tens of millions of roses of 1,004 varieties blooming in the 40,000㎡ rose park have attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

However, the festival could not be held last year due to COVID-19. As a small county with a population of less than 30,000, the inability to hold the festival had a considerable impact on the local economy.

Earlier this year, as the spread of COVID-19 subsided, many people wondered if the rose festival could be held. Gokseong-gun also struggled between quarantine measures and the local economy. However, as the spread of COVID-19 has recently increased again, Gokseong-gun has made the final decision not to hold the festival.

Although the festival was canceled, Gokseong-gun will promote the rose festival online for the post-COVID era.

Currently, plans include ▲producing and broadcasting promotional videos based on YouTube ▲real-time online sales of Gokseong agricultural specialty products to revitalize the local economy ▲online socially distanced busking performances in collaboration with broadcasting companies ▲and the ‘Gokseong World Rose You Quiz’ event.

A Gokseong-gun official said, “We hope that through these non-face-to-face programs, you can meet our county and the beautiful roses and soothe your weary hearts from COVID-19.”

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