Gyeongnam Uiryeong Honguijanggun Festival, First Step... Successful Completion

140,000 Visitors... Uiryeong-gun Festival Draws Largest Crowd in History

Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam, known as the ‘Holy Land of Uibyeong’ that gave birth to ‘Uibyeong Day’ as a national memorial day, successfully concluded the ‘48th Uiryeong Honguijanggun Festival’.

This was the first festival held after changing the name from the half-century-old Uibyeongjejeon Festival to the ‘Honguijanggun Festival’.

Mangudang Gwak Jae-woo Honguijanggun Festival
[Image provided by Uiryeong-gun]

A record crowd of 140,000 people visited Uiryeong, the largest in the history of Uiryeong-gun festivals, and the residents enjoyed the festival with united hearts.

County Governor Oh Tae-wan stated, “The Uibyeong spirit that Uiryeong-gun is creating will once again inspire new pride among the people.” The ‘Uibyeong spirit’ showcased by Uiryeong-gun at the festival held from the 20th to the 23rd deeply moved attendees.

From the moment tourists entered the gateway to Uiryeong, everyone became Uibyeong in accordance with the festival slogan, “We are all Uibyeong, Honguijanggun, gathered together,” and the festival was bustling with an unprecedentedly large crowd.

Uiryeong-gun illuminated the Uibyeong Tower, a symbol of Uiryeong’s pride and Uibyeong, with night lighting to create a solemn atmosphere, and designated the ‘red’ color of ‘Honguijanggun’ as the festival’s symbolic color, filling the festival grounds with the majestic spirit of Honguijanggun.

The opening ceremony, which began with the Uibyeong departure parade and torch march announcing the start of the festival, was elaborately organized with the added significance of proclaiming the first year of the new Honguijanggun Festival.

The ‘Sound of the Drum’ performance, which recreated April 22, 1592, the day when Uibyeong was first creatively formed by hanging a large drum on a zelkova tree and beating it, awakened the ‘Spirit of Uibyeong’ by reexamining the lives and struggles of General Gwak Jae-woo, the 17 commanders, and unnamed Uibyeong. Following this, a ‘Drone Multi-Show’ expressing ‘The Day of Victory, the Shout of Uibyeong Victory’ in colorful lights in the night sky heightened the festival atmosphere.

Jeon Byung-ho (40), who heard about the festival and visited his hometown after a long time, said, “The atmosphere is quite different from the Uibyeongjejeon I used to attend every year as a child. It feels like being at a large concert hall.” He added, “I’m amazed that so many people are in Uiryeong, and it’s nice to see everyone expressing Uiryeong by wearing the same clothes.”

During the festival period, Uiryeong-gun transformed into a ‘young city.’ Wherever you went in the event area, it was filled with children and students.

Honguijanggun Festival.

The ‘Uibyeong Heritage Mobile Stamp Tour,’ where visitors who stamped mobile stamps at major Uibyeong historic sites such as Uibyeong Tower, Chungiksa Shrine, and Uibyeong Museum received souvenirs at the festival, and the ‘Uibyeong Training Camp,’ which nurtured the courage of children as future Uibyeong, were also popular.

The Children’s Honguijanggun Selection Contest and the ‘Honguijanggun Who Came to the Honguijanggun Festival’ event became special programs that spread by word of mouth. Family tourists lined up for meters to experience Uibyeong horseback riding, bare-handed fish catching, and the Uibyeong train.

The ‘National Uibyeong Theme Pavilion’ examined the footsteps of Uibyeong through different eras from the Imjin War to the anti-Japanese Uibyeong, and organized representative Uibyeong commanders by region. Uiryeong-gun is planning a long-term ‘Uibyeong Expo,’ and the ‘National Uibyeong Theme Pavilion’ attracted great interest as a preview of the Uiryeong Expo.

Uiryeong Keunjulttaenggigi.

The ‘Uiryeong Large Tug-of-War,’ registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest rope and recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, was pulled again after six years. On this day, about 5,000 residents participated in the tug-of-war with a rope measuring 125 meters in length and 5 meters in circumference. The residents united to pull the rope they made themselves, praying for abundance and harmony.

Alongside the Honguijanggun Festival, accompanying festivals welcomed tourists with unique and diverse options. These included the Uiryeong Saturday Watermelon Festival featuring a 29kg giant watermelon, the 7th ‘Trot Rookie Gateway’ Lee Ho-seop Song Festival, the ‘Folk Ox Wrestling Competition’ full of surprises from the preliminaries, the ‘1st National Wildflower Festival’ themed ‘Our Flowers Enter Uiryeong,’ and the ‘Citizen Harmony Outdoor Concert.’ Popular singers such as Jang Min-ho, Ailee, and Kim Hee-jae joined the festival’s victorious cheers during the festival period.

Uiryeong-gun aimed to use this first Honguijanggun Festival as a turning point to spread the ‘value of Uibyeong’ as a spirit needed in today’s era, not just a history of the past.

Governor Oh said, “I want to remind the residents once again of the spirit of unity and harmony of the Uibyeong, who rose bravely in the face of crisis with a spirit of sacrifice and embraced everyone for the goal of ‘justice and community.’ The greatest achievement of this Honguijanggun Festival is that the ‘Uibyeong spirit’ is spreading in Uiryeong-gun as a catalyst for unity and harmony.”

A resident in his 60s met at the festival said, “It’s the first time in my sixty years that so many people have gathered in a small town with laughter never ceasing. This is what Uiryeong has always been. When people unite, they do well. Our Uiryeong is a place where people relied on each other and gained strength even in precarious times.”

The Uiryeong Honguijanggun Festival ended on the 23rd, leaving behind a ‘promise of harmony.’

Uiryeong-gun plans to hold a festival evaluation meeting to review the achievements and challenges of the festival.

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