Changwon Special City Hosts the 29th Jindong Large Tug-of-War and Dalmaji Festival

Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon:
"May All Citizens Shake Off Their Worries
and Welcome a Hopeful Year"

On the 12th, Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam announced that the 2025 Jindong Large Tug-of-War and Moon Viewing event was held at the Dongchon Stream Cultural Square in Jindong-myeon, Masanhappo-gu.

The scene of the Jindong Keunjul Tug-of-War.

Organized by the Jindong Folk Culture Preservation Society, the event was held successfully with about 1,500 guests, including Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, Son Taehwa, Chairman of the Changwon Special City Council, provincial and city council members, and visitors who came to enjoy Changwon’s representative traditional cultural event.

Held to celebrate the first full moon of the lunar new year in the year of Eulsa, the event proceeded in the order of ▲pre-ceremony performance ▲opening ceremony ▲large tug-of-war ▲invited performance ▲burning of the moon house.

The Jindong Large Tug-of-War, which began during the Three Kingdoms period, is a local folk game boasting 1,800 years of history and tradition, where residents play tug-of-war to pray for the village’s peace and harmony.

This year, the Jindong Folk Culture Preservation Society hand-twisted rice straw for nine days in the traditional way to create a 100-meter-long large rope, and divided into East and West teams to compete in the tug-of-war contest.

The finale of the event was the ‘burning of the moon house’ held under the first full moon of the Year of the Green Snake. Citizens hung wish papers they wrote themselves on a 15-meter-high, 35-meter-circumference moon house, and burned the moon house and wish papers together, burning away last year’s bad luck and praying for health and prosperity in the coming year.

Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, said, “Reflecting on the meaning of the first full moon of the lunar new year, I hope that through this burning of the moon house, all citizens of Changwon will shake off their worries and welcome a hopeful year.”

Meanwhile, Changwon Special City plans to actively support various traditional cultural events that preserve and inherit the region’s unique traditional culture and that citizens can participate in together.

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