"Come Watch Monk Ssireum"... Palgongsan Seungsi Festival Featuring Kim Heung-guk, Shin Yu, and Oh Jeong-hae

7-9 Days Fanfar at Daegu Donghwasa

Recreating Traditional Games and Mountain Market Heritage

The “13th Palgongsan Mountain Traditional Market Seungsi Festival,” sponsored by Daegu City and hosted by Donghwasa Temple of the 9th District of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, will be held at Donghwasa Temple for three days from the 7th to the 9th.

Now in its 13th year, the Seungsi Festival reenacts the mountain market of monks as a festival. Beyond the market’s original purpose of exchanging supplies needed by monks and temples, it is known as a festival venue that recreates the nation’s only ethnic cultural heritage where Buddhist culture and traditions of various temples are shared.

Tourists gathered at the Seungsi Festival held last year at Donghwasa Temple in Palgongsa.

This year’s festival has strengthened traditional cultural programs such as exhibitions of traditional Korean paper (hanji) and a traditional games event. It also offers a variety of programs that the whole family can enjoy together, including family cultural performances and a Korean traditional music (gugak) and classical music concert.

On the first day of the festival, the 7th, Buddhist cultural performances will begin at 11 a.m., followed by a performance by the Donghwasa pungmul troupe. At 2 p.m., the opening Buddhist ceremony will be held on the special stage at Tongildabul, followed by an opening celebration concert featuring singers Kim Heung-guk, Sukhyang, Shin Yu, and Jang Mi-hwa to liven up the atmosphere.

On the second day, the 8th, there will be a Seungga wrestling competition for monks, along with performances by local cultural artists and family cultural performances. On the final day, the 9th, the festival finale will feature a gugak and classical music concert by gugak artist Oh Jeong-hae and a brass quintet ensemble, as well as the event “Beat Park Gwang-deok” with former ssireum wrestler Park Gwang-deok.

Monks wrestling at the Seungsi Festival held last year.

In addition, throughout the festival from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., permanent programs will be operated to provide abundant entertainment, including the Seungsi Yard (Buddhist traditional culture experience, Seungsi market yard, food yard), Exhibition Yard (Seungsi Chrysanthemum Festival, traditional hanji exhibitions), Play Yard (traditional games event), and Special Experience (temple food experience).

Daegu City expects an influx of visitors to Palgongsan during the Hangul Day holiday and will increase the number of “Express Line 1” buses running from Dongdaegu Station to the festival venue by two, reducing the interval between buses from 13 minutes to 11 minutes during the festival period. Additionally, three shuttle buses will operate from Cine80 to the festival entrance, implementing transportation measures to ensure the safety and convenience of visitors.

Jo Kyung-seon, Director of the Daegu City Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, said, “The Seungsi Festival is a precious cultural heritage of our region and is expected to develop into a competitive tourist resource where not only Daegu citizens but also domestic and international visitors can participate and enjoy together, establishing itself as Daegu’s representative festival.”

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