Irregular Schedule Frustrates Tourists... Buan Byeonsan Beach Party Draws Criticism

2-Hour Delay in Beach Dance Preliminary Round

Some programs of the 2024 Byeonsan Beach Party (June 2-4), promoted by Buan-gun, Jeonbuk as the "Dancing Sea," were arbitrarily changed or canceled. Vacationers and tourists who visited Byeonsan Beach expecting the festival expressed dissatisfaction.

On June 2, Yonhap News reported that a large stage, which was to be the base for the Byeonsan Beach Party at the far end of Byeonsan Beach, was set up but completely empty. According to the festival schedule posted on Buan-gun’s website, the preliminary rounds for the youth and foreigner divisions of the "Beach Dance" competition were supposed to start at 2 p.m. However, the organizers suddenly postponed the start time to 4 p.m.

[Photo by Buan-gun]

Perhaps because of this, the large pool installed in front of the stage was not fully filled with water. Originally, Buan-gun planned to hold a "Bu-pyo Survival" event in this pool starting at 1 p.m. before the competition. But the host came out and started the survival event after 2 p.m.

Moreover, the water slide, which was popular among family vacationers, was not installed anywhere on the beach, contrary to the festival’s promotional materials.

Empty large pool in front of the beach party stage
[Photo by Yonhap News]

A Buan-gun official told Yonhap News, "The dance competition was supposed to start at 2 p.m., but it was suddenly postponed to 4 p.m. this morning. Because the competition start was delayed, the Bu-pyo Survival event was also delayed."

Regarding the reason for the delay, the official explained, "We expected 40 teams to register for the youth division preliminaries, but only 25 teams showed up. To avoid any time gaps between the preliminaries and the scheduled opening stage and congratulatory performances, we had no choice but to start the youth preliminaries later."

They said that they had allocated ample time assuming 40 teams would compete, but since the expectation was off, the competition time was pushed back.

Lee Mo (17), who came down from Gyeonggi Province with family for the vacation season, told Yonhap News, "I was looking forward to the dance competition, but I was a bit disappointed because the schedule was delayed. It’s too hot today, so I don’t think I can wait for two hours."

Meanwhile, the Jeonbuk provincial government announced that it will conduct a joint price stabilization inspection during the Buan Byeonsan Beach Party period. From June 2 to 4, a joint public-private inspection team consisting of Buan-gun officials and the Buan branch of the Korea Women’s Consumer Federation will inspect prices at Byeonsan Beach and nearby areas. The main inspection items include cracking down on overcharging in the food service and lodging industries and checking compliance with price display regulations.

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