Gokseong World Rose Festival, Opening on the 17th

-Colorful Roses and Even More Spectacular Performance

The 14th Gokseong World Rose Festival, held in Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do, will welcome tourists with a rich performance alongside colorful roses from the 17th to the 26th at the Seomjingang Train Village area.

Under the theme “WE THE ROSE,” meaning that we are all beautiful roses, this year’s festival is especially prepared as an event to experience and enjoy together with local residents by expanding the festival grounds beyond Seomjingang Train Village to include Seomjingang Fairy Tale Garden, Gokseong Children’s Library, Gunmin Hall, Gallery 107, and more.

[Photo by Gokseong-gun]

Currently, Seomjingang Train Village is bustling with hands tending to the fragrant roses that have begun to bloom, harmonizing perfectly with the clear skies of May. The 75,000 square meter rose garden is busy cultivating world-class roses from Europe and other regions, which are rarely seen in Korea.

This year’s festival will start without a separate opening ceremony but with a musical planned performance where all tourists can enjoy and have fun together to the song “You Are Like a Rose.” The Gokseong County Youth Orchestra and world-renowned baritone Kim Ki-hoon, who is from Gokseong, will be specially invited to perform at the opening stage, raising the festival’s excitement from start to finish.

The core concept of this year’s rose festival is The RED. R, E, and D stand for Romantic, Excitement, and Delight, representing romance, thrill, and joy, which will be infused into each performance and program and showcased throughout the festival grounds.

First, the “The Romantic Rose Concert,” matching the romantic concept, will be held after the opening performance on the first day of the festival, the 17th, featuring Lin, the queen of OSTs, and Nayoung from Mistrot 3, who is from Gokseong, beautifully decorating the first night of the rose festival.

On Saturday the 18th, the “The Romantic Rose Bl.os.som” performance will feature Haiki, who sang “A Rose Bloomed Between Buildings,” and the Gokseong promotional ambassadors Pastel Girls in an idol special concert.

Additionally, a spectacular performance musical Rose Gala and a collaboration concert “Music with Rose” featuring cello and film music will also be presented.

The next day, Sunday the 19th, in line with the exciting concept, the lively “The Exciting Rose Flower Concert” is prepared. The irreplaceable duet Norazo, MBN Shocking Night’s final team “Gunjo Crew,” and next-generation trot star Han Tae-hyun from Okwa, Gokseong, will share the stage.

On weekdays, not only tourists but also local residents can enjoy the festival together, with 33 local cultural artists and art groups, as well as singers from Gokseong, performing on stage to promote the rose festival to the world.

On the last Saturday of the festival, the 25th, an even more exciting performance “Amor Trot Tonight” will be held. It is a lively trot concert that all generations can enjoy, featuring Kim Yeon-ja, Moon Hee-ok, and the fiery trotman Lee Soo-ho from Gokseong.

On the 26th, the delight concept “The Delight Rose Gala Show” will feature Gokseong promotional ambassador Jin Simon and the Suwajin Band. Also, the festival will conclude brilliantly and excitingly with “Cherry Filter,” led by diva Jo Yoo-jin of the rock festival.

For a lively and happy festival with splendid roses, other special performances unique to the Gokseong Rose Festival, such as the vividly unfolding “Guerrilla Waltz” and “New Rose Pungnyu,” are also being prepared to provide abundant attractions.

In addition, side events such as the main prize event “Find the Lucky Golden Rose” will be held daily, and this year, a new event “My Name is Rose: National Rose Summon” has been newly established. The “Dress Code RED,” where participants wearing red clothes and posting on SNS receive souvenirs, will continue due to last year’s popularity.

This year, especially to make it a festival with local residents, efforts are being made to expand the festival by placing programs throughout the region rather than limiting the festival grounds to Seomjingang Train Village.

Beautiful Seomjingang Fairy Tale Garden, embroidered with about 100,000 pyeong of wheat fields, will produce and utilize cello busking videos and performances by participants of the World Yodel Festival International Music Concert.

The Gokseong Children’s Library, opened last April, is preparing paper collage “Heart Flower,” Bohemian marimba performances, and immersive fairy tale experiences timed with the rose festival.

An official from the county said, “We have completed thorough parking guidance and traffic control plans for visitors to the festival site and are communicating organically with related organizations such as Gokseong Police Station and Gokseong Fire Station. Especially on weekends, when visitors are concentrated, those who want to focus on the inherent beauty and fragrance of roses are advised to avoid weekends and enjoy the rose festival on weekdays, especially in the morning.”

During the 2023 Gokseong World Rose Festival, the highest number of visitors to Seomjingang Train Village in one day was 45,000, with a total of 229,000 visitors recorded.

Meanwhile, the Gokseong World Rose Festival was selected as a “2024~2025 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Preliminary Festival” in February for its differentiated content and identity, and it is also a representative festival of Jeollanam-do in 2024.

The festival site, Seomjingang Train Village, is located at 232 Gicha Village, Ogok-myeon, Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do. Admission is 5,000 won, and during the festival period, ticket sales at Seomjingang Train Village are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Gokseong = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Cha Jong-seon hss79@asiae.co.kr

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