[Insight & Opinion] Mourning the Souls That Vanished in Vain

[Asia Economy] Festivals used to serve the role of restoring community spirit and expressing gratitude to the gods. Some festivals also had the function of warding off evil spirits. The Halloween festival celebrated by the ancient Celtic people is an example of such a festival. They wore masks to drive away ghosts. Festivals bring people together. Emotions run high. Therefore, those in power sometimes used them politically. The Roman Saturnalia was such a festival. It allowed temporary subversion and frenzy. However, such festivals have become commercially distorted.

Most modern festivals are either tourism marketing events hosted by local governments or marketing tools used by merchant groups to capitalize on peak seasons. Halloween Day, a festival where the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) affirms their identity, along with Valentine’s Day, a peak season for couples, are typical examples of ‘day marketing.’ “100,000 people gathered.” “1 million people gathered.” These numbers have become the standard for measuring a festival’s success. This is not unique to Korea; Shibuya in Japan is no different. There is no soul in these festivals. Seth Godin, famous for “Purple Cow,” described marketing as “a generous act that helps the world,” and Philip Kotler, the ‘father of marketing,’ recently emphasized authenticity, soul, and empathetic marketing in his books. But nowadays, festivals are neither generous nor soulful. They pursue scale, numbers, and purpose too much, rather than community or gratitude. Festivals without religiosity are just events and day marketing.

Autumn festivals after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions were crowded, and those who love numbers called them “the most successful ever.” Festival-goers flocked to these events as if to make up for lost time after COVID-19. I visited a few places myself. There were really a lot of people?almost frighteningly so. When there are that many people, religiosity disappears, and one’s personal time and space inevitably get compromised. After seeing a few of these, I suddenly longed to see a small festival like a concert in the forest.

In Gokseong, Jeollanam-do, about 10 km from the town, there is a small river island. The locals call it Jewol (霽月) Island, meaning “clear moon after the rain.” The Chinese character 霽 (je) means the clearing of rain, but it also implies a clear and refreshed mind. There is only a small signboard at the road entrance. You can tell how much the festival planner restrained their desire for publicity. You see people in twos or threes. The bridge leading to the island is filled with the sound of cute water running, chattering under the sunlight. The festival consists of small installations and mini-performances created by overseas artists from France, Cuba, Hungary, and domestic artists, along with performances that comfort life and pray for forgiveness from nature. It lasts a week but only runs for 2 to 3 hours a day. The rest of the time is for rest. The installations use natural materials from the island such as wood, silver grass, and soil, which decompose and return to the earth of Jewol Island. Adults whispering while walking and resting, children running around like puppies, artistic gestures pointing to the sky and chanting to purify the world’s evils. The muddy water and dust in my heart settled. The absurd leaders, incompetent National Assembly, collapsing economy, the war games of Big Brother, the shaken youth, and the murdered women of Iran, even the inherent pain of life?all settled down.

I see two kinds of festivals in my heart: festivals that chase numbers and festivals that soothe the soul. What truly is a festival? On the morning of the last day of October, I heard the news of the Itaewon Halloween Day tragedy. Foreign artists said, “It’s incredible.” That day’s festival began with a shamanistic ritual for the dead and ended with the sound of drums. Now is the time of 혼월 (混月, mixed moon). But I imagine the sound of drums and a clear moon after the rain. When generous acts that help the world gather, that moon will surely come. I mourn the souls that vanished in vain before that moon could arrive.

Hwang Inseon, Marketer and Writer

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