Online forum mulls ways of revitalizing regional festivals
Participants discuss measures to boost regional festivals during an online forum at the Bitmaru broadcasting support center in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. The forum, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Tourism Organization, was streamed live via YouTube. / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
By Jun Ji-hye
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with the Korea Tourism Organization, held an online forum to discuss measures to revitalize regional festivals, many of which have been canceled due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, officials said Thursday.
The Tourism Sciences Society of Korea and the Tourism Research Institute under Hanyang University also participated in the forum that was streamed live via YouTube.
The forum came as many regional communities have faced economic difficulties this year following cancellation of their festivals amid the public health crisis.
Forum participants, including Choi Bo-geun who heads the ministry's tourism policy department, identified the crisis facing festivals and came up with a variety of ideas to hold them in different ways.
These include non-face-to-face festivals, according to the ministry.
Lee Yong-yeol, a senior official from the Boryeong Festival and Tourism Foundation, shared new attempts by the Boryeong Mud Festival, one of the country's largest local festivals that has attracted many visitors.
The festival, held annually in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province, was replaced with an online event this year due to the pandemic.
“We hope participants in the forum will find proper countermeasures together for festivals to respond better to changes,” a ministry official said.