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By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
The Hi Seoul Festival, the annual event held by the city, starts today with a series of spring attractions.
The nine-day festival features various events at the capital's five palaces, Seoul Plaza and Cheonggye Stream.
This year, Hi Seoul offers walking tour programs through the palaces and up Mt. Bugak to see the past, present and future of the 600-year-old city.
There are three tours ― Gyeonghui Palace and Deoksu Palace, Wednesday; Mt. Bugak and Changdeok Palace, Thursday; and Mt. Bukak and Changgyeong Palace, Friday. Experts from Rediscover Korea, a non-governmental organization, will conduct them.
``It is going to be a great opportunity for foreign residents and visitors to appreciate Seoul's history and culture, as they walk through the palaces and fortress in the sunny May weather,'' Moon Ju-hui of the Seoul Foundation of Arts and Culture said.
Moon said the foundation will select 40 participants by a lottery for each tour from applications accepted through the festivals Web site until Sunday. Call (02) 723-4205 for more information.
The foundation also recommends events to be held in the five palaces.
Gyeonghui Palace offers ``Searching for the Taste of Korea,'' a chance to sample royal cuisines such as royal tteokbokki, chrysanthemum pancake and royal dumpling. Children can experience cooking for themselves as well. The musical ``Jewel in the Palace'' (Daejanggeum) will be performed at 8 p.m. for the duration of the festival.
``A Modern Concert of the Korean Empire'' will be held at Deoksu Palace near Seoul Plaza at 3 p.m. from Wednesday to Saturday, featuring a variety of music including Western classical music, fusion Korean music and jazz.
The palace will also showcase an exhibition on the ``Korean Empire.''
For those who want to experience what royal life in a palace was like, Changgyeong Palace, using actors, will portray the daily routine of the king's family from Thursday to Saturday. It will also host a new version of ``Yeominrak,'' a court song in Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), performed by young musicians.
Gyeongbok Palace, the main palace of the Joseon Kingdom, will depict King Sejong's life through a performance named ``A Story about King Sejong'' on May 10. This is a new version of ``The Coronation of King Sejong,'' which gained popularity in previous festivals.
At the Seoul Plaza, the ``Eight Color Ball'' will turn the plaza into a night club during the festival from 8 p.m. everyday with different daily themes.
The theme of events held near Cheonggye Stream is ``Sharing.'' There will be diverse events on donation such as ``Concert for All,'' ``Hot Pink Flea Market for Sharing'' and ``Tossing Coins for Love.''
To find a detailed schedule for the festival, visit www.hiseoulfest.org.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
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‘3초면 환자 죽일 수도…’ 막말 간호사 논란
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