'60 Years' Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival Unfolds as a Citizen-Led Event

Night View of Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon

The ‘60th Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival,’ held in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province this October, will be transformed from a citizen participation event into a citizen-led festival.

On the 20th, Suwon City announced that four festivals will take place around Hwaseong Haenggung Palace in Suwon over 43 days from September 23: the World Heritage Festival Suwon Hwaseong (September 23 to October 14), Suwon Hwaseong Media Art (October 6 to November 4), the 60th Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival (October 7 to 9), and the Joint Reenactment of King Jeongjo’s Royal Procession (October 8 to 9).

Last year, these four festivals attracted over one million tourists.

Under the theme ‘Suwon Dongnak (水原同樂),’ this year’s Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival will present the main performance ‘Jagung Gagyo (慈宮駕轎).’ Citizen actors were selected to play the role of Lady Hyegyeong Hong, who is celebrating her 60th birthday this year, and will perform alongside professional actors on stage.

Additionally, various citizen-led and participatory programs are prepared, including the Yeomin-gak Bell Ringing event involving citizens, ‘Citizen Dohwaseo,’ where citizens draw the Bongsu Dangjinchan painting on the floor of Haenggung Square, ‘Georiseo Noljjang,’ which fills the streets with citizen performing arts, the citizen-led program ‘Seonganeseo Noljjang,’ and ‘Art Playground’ led by Suwon art groups.

Furthermore, citizens will participate in all processions of the Suwon section of King Jeongjo’s Royal Procession, from the traditionally authenticated parade to the experiential procession and the citizen parade.

Lee Sang-su, Director of Culture, Youth, and Sports at Suwon City, said, “The 60th Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival has been planned as a citizen-centered festival created and enjoyed together with the citizens.” He added, “We aim to complete the Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival as a ‘Korean-style citizen participation festival’ and create a virtuous cycle where citizen participation leads to further citizen participation.”

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