Naju Festival, Pre-Event on the 20th... Dance Performances and More Exciting Attractions

Published 19 Oct.2023 16:07(KST)

‘2023 Naju Festival Yeongsangang is Alive,’ which debuts as an integrated festival in Naju City, Jeollanam-do, will kick off its ten-day grand journey starting with the eve event on the 20th.

Naju City (Mayor Yoon Byung-tae) announced on the 19th that the festival eve event will be held on the 20th at the main stage of Yeongsangang Riverside Sports Park, featuring a morning performance by the Citizen Art Troupe and an afternoon K-POP dance celebration performance titled ‘THE NEW.’

2023 Naju Festival, Yeongsangang River is Alive Poster. [Photo by Naju City]

The highlight of the eve event, the K-POP dance celebration performance, will begin at 5 p.m.

Twenty teams, including participants and teams from the national-level dance survival programs ‘Street Man Fighter’ and ‘Street Girls Fighter,’ as well as students from Dongshin University’s Department of Performing Arts Dance, will perform.

Famous dancers (teams) such as Miss Molly, Moving Up, J-Rock, Nucks, Durak, and Som will heat up the Yeongsangang waterfront stage for a full four hours with dance battles, showcases, and celebration performances.

Nam Jung-sook, the festival’s general director, said, “We hope everyone enjoys the lively eve event stage filled with the explosive youth of K-pop dancers and feels the global status of K-pop.”

The opening ceremony on the day following the eve event, the 21st, will start at 10 a.m. with the ‘Bannam Jamisan Cheonje and Burial Mound Ritual’ and a parade by Bannam-myeon residents.

The Jamisan Cheonje is a ritual proclaiming that the descendants of the Mahan people are the people of Naju. It has been held since 1984 in Bannam-myeon, where Mahan historical sites are scattered, organized by the Bannam Mahan Relics Preservation Association.

During the Mahan Cultural Festival, residents pray for the succession of Mahan history and culture and the well-being of citizens through the Jamisan Cheonje.

This year, as the Mahan Cultural Festival is integrated into the Yeongsangang is Alive festival, participants will join the ritual and the opening parade that proceeds from Bannam-myeon to Yeongsanpo and the festival site.

The parade, with participants dressed in Mahan-era costumes and carrying flags, will start from the Bannam Burial Mounds after the ritual and deliver a message of harmony by passing Yeongsan Bridge at Yeongsanpo Station at 3:30 p.m. and heading to the festival site.

In the area around Bannam Burial Mounds and the National Naju Museum, a 20,000-pyeong (approximately 66,000 square meters) cosmos flower field, a pink muhly grass walking path, photo zones, and a large golden crown topiary are set up, with busking performances held on weekends.

A free shuttle bus running between the festival site and Bannam Burial Mounds operates continuously.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “The Naju integrated festival, which will unfold at Yeongsangang starting with the lively and passionate eve event performance, will open on the 20th. We hope visitors experience the charm of Naju tourism and the essence of the festival through high-quality performances and various attractions and food, as if the Arts Center has been moved to Naju for ten days.”