As fall begins, the whole country is bustling with festivals. The number of culture and tourism festivals reported to the central government by local governments alone amount to more than 300 nationwide. But there is criticism that the majority of regional festivals have been unable to make use of their regional character and resident participation, have become bloated in size and have wasted municipal funds.
One example is the Simcheong Festival, held yesterday afternoon in Gokseong County, South Jeolla Province. The festival was overwhelmed with crowds and enough cars to fill a parking garage able to accommodate 2,000 vehicles; entry from the entrance one kilometer ahead was difficult. Gokseong spent 400 million won to prepare the festival, but its distinctive character was lacking in comparison with its size. Tourist Kim Ho-geom, 35, who is from Dongnim-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju, said that the landscape of the festival’s location, the banks of the Seomjin River, was beautiful, but that the festival’s content -- including fireworks, performances by popular singers, pumba performances (performances by village buskers) and a 100-song challenge -- was monotonous. Kim also said that he wished there were more memorable activities or sights, even if it meant the festival was smaller in size.
. . .
According to Culture Ministry totals, the number of regional culture and tourism festivals increased greatly from around 350 in 1995 to 697 in 2005 as local government officials were appointed by election, and this year the number increased once again to 926. Among these, it has been calculated that 24 regional festivals have budgets higher than 1 billion won. Experts estimate that if festivals not included in government statistics were counted, there would be around 3,000 nationwide, even excluding small festivals at the village level. In addition, about 40 percent of festivals were shown to be concentrated in the months of September and October. One Culture Ministry official said that while the village gut ceremony and farmers’ bands, seen as the prototype for regional festivals, are dying out, the number of festivals created through government leadership has continued to increase.
A considerable number of these festivals are being judged to have little substance. The Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, in a study published in 2006 investigating and evaluating South Korea’s regional festivals and researching plans for improvement, designated as problem areas in these festivals: the increased number of festivals with a commercial character that diminished the quality of individual festivals; an overabundance of government-led festivals, alienating residents; wastes of budget and time due to large-scale events; and the lack of a true festival spirit resulting from an excess of tourism products. Participants’ satisfaction with these bloated festivals has not been high. The KCTI conducted a sample survey of 480 regional festivals nationwide in 2006, showing that the percentage of festivals where visitor satisfaction levels were low was 63.1 percent, while those with high satisfaction levels were a mere 5.8 percent. Regional resident satisfaction levels were at a relatively high 32.4 percent, but the percentage of festivals described as “average” (55.3 percent) or “unsatisfactory” (12.3 percent) was considerable.
That's worth a read anytime, and not just when festivals are getting cancelled this season ostensibly because of swine flu concerns. The scores of festivals each month surely are ambitious, and I'll bet some citizens feel proud of their local ones. But even though I've spent a lot of time covering local festivals, largely because English-language information is inadequate, I'm among the first to admit too many of them are lame. Regardless of the thing being promoted, many boil down to the same things: a flea market, restaurant tents, and old people music. Is it really necessary to spend all kinds of money making a festival for a season product---they're often about crops---when people will appreciate them already simply by virtue of being able to eat or enjoy them? People will always take a drive out somewhere to enjoy the flowers, and shoppers will always look for the products "famous" in a particular part of the country when they become available. Certain things just sell themselves.
Anyway, I said I had this article post-dated for November, but something I read a few weeks ago made me want to bump it up. From a Dong-A Ilbo opinion piece from September 9th:
Fall is the traditional season for festivals, but provincial regions have been hit hard by outbreaks of influenza A. The central government ordered all regions to cancel festivals that attract more than 1,000 people and last more than two days. Of 777 provincial festivals, 167 were either canceled or postponed and 65 were scaled down. The organizers of the Global Fair and Festival 2009 Incheon, Korea in New Songdo City are struggling to protect against the flu by operating sanitizing equipment at gates. The number of visitors to the event has declined, however. Hopefully, the outbreak of the flu will also drive out unfeasible or non-functioning festivals.
The last line jumps out here, because it reflects what we read in the Hankyoreh piece from last year, and a viewpoint that is apparently held by a good number of people.
It was reader Karl on my Facebook page, and later on some of my posts as well, who first suggested that some organizers were simply using swine flu as an excuse to cancel festivals that would otherwise not turn a profit.
I take the position that these cities are cancelling the festivals because they simply can't afford them in these economic times. H1N1 is just a face saving way of canceling.
I think we can also add that perhaps some festivals have cancelled this season because they've struggled in the past, and because all the other cancellations might scare potential visitors away.
1 comment:
Hasn't anyone copped on to the fact that many, if not all, of these so-called 'festivals' are actually just a load of shit?
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