[한국축체] Spring Festivals in South Korea

Spring came to South Korea. Everything is green and blooming, more and more people go out for walks. Every spring in South Korea, many different festivals are held. Festivals of tulips and roses, lanterns and green tea.

Flower festival

I will tell you today about the Flower Festival, which is organized by the administration of the city of Goyang.
The city of Goyang is 25 km from Seoul, you can reach it by metro or city bus.

The first flower festival was held in Korea in 1997. The scope of the event surpassed all expectations. For a couple of days the city of Goyang was visited by more than 6 million people. Since then, the exhibition of flowers here is held annually - in a park near the lake Ilsan.

The festival of flowers is attended by representatives from more than 30 countries.

The exhibition is held for two weeks. On working days it is open from 10 to 19 hours, and on weekends from 9 to 21 hours. Entrance ticket 12,000 Korean won or 12 dollars. But there are different discounts, for example, discounts for foreign visitors. For foreigners, the ticket price is 8,000 Korean won (8 dollars).

Every year the festival is becoming more grandiose and bigger. All this beauty is difficult to describe, you must see it with your own eyes.

The exhibition is divided into 2 parts: internal and external.

The indoor exhibition takes place in a large indoor indoor park. This year the internal exhibition was divided into 4 sections: the National Pavilion (pavilions represented by different countries), Flower Monuments 2018, Exotic Flowers Exhibition and the Garden of International Garden Plants.

The Street Flower exhibition is represented by the following sections: World Flower Festival, Colored Floral Land, Flower Valley and Smart City, Tulip Garden, Photo Zone of Fun and Love. In addition to the exhibition, the organizers of the festival came up with an entertainment program. Every day the program is different. Visitors can see the performance of Korean pop stars, the so-called K-Rohr, traditional dances, magic shows, a flower parade and much more. And the most active visitors can take part in different events: drawing flowers, creating different flower eekbans and so on.

The festival of flowers is so large that you can spend a whole day here.

Official site of the festival: http://flower.or.kr/

Lantern Festival

Another popular festival in Korea, which takes place in the spring is the Lantern Festival. The official name of the festival is the Lotus Lantern Festival. It is timed to the birthday of the Buddha. This year, 122 Lantern Festival took place.

The Lantern Festival is organized by the City Hall with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, the Buddhist Association of Korea and other organizations. The festival takes place almost 2 weeks. But the most grandiose event is held on May 12, when more than 100 thousand lights are lit in the night Seoul, and on the street Chonno is a festive parade. A month before the start of the festival all the roads of the city are decorated with hanging lights of different colors, which light up at night, illuminating the roads.

In addition, in the Buddhist temples of Ponyns and Choges, as well as along the Chongcheon River, an exhibition of lanterns is installed. Each year, the exhibition presents a variety of lights. And in the Buddhist temples there are special services and activities. Anyone can come to Choges temple and make his lotus lantern.

And in the city there are concerts and performances, most of which are free. On the square near the Chongqak station, free performances of traditional Korean dances and songs are arranged. So anyone can come and have a good time.

The birthday of Buddha is celebrated in all cities of South Korea, and the mayoralty of each city organizes its holiday. On May 12, the Dongguk University hosted a festival of chanting and worshiping the Buddha, in which not only university students, but also children and residents took part. For the Buddhists, the most important is the Dharma ceremony, which takes place in the temple. Dharma means "truth" or "path". This year the ceremony will be held on May 22 and will begin at 10 am in all the temples of the country.

Festival in Dongkuk University in 2017

Buddhism in South Korea was born in the 4th century and for a long time was the main religion until the country was brought Christianity.

Official web-page of festival: http://www.llf.or.kr

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@irisworld

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