Festivals Cancelled Due to Flu Fears
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Major regional festivals slated for this fall are being cancelled due to growing fear over influenza (H1N1) A.
Most recently, the Bucheon World Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo, which was supposed to open on Sept. 18, has been called off, the organizers said.
"As the number of people who are infected with the influenza H1N1 spreading all over the world is increasing, we have decided to suspend the annual event after considering and reviewing the consequences to brace for the possible worst-case scenario," they said in a statement.
The organizers promised to have richer content and a more diverse program at next year's event. The expo was originally planned to take place from Sept. 18 to Oct. 7 and more than 1,000 people from 12 nations in Asia, Europe and South America were expected to partake in the event.
The 2009 Onggi Expo Ulsan, a global exhibition of traditional Korean earthenware pottery, will also be pushed back to next year.
The exposition was scheduled to take place from Oct. 8 to Nov. 9. Refunds will be given for the 220,000 tickets already sold in advance. "We wanted to promote the excellence of Korean traditional earthenware and the city of culture, Ulsan, to the world. But we have decided to postpone the event to next year to join the government's efforts to prevent the further spread of the influenza H1N1 and protect the citizens' and visitors' health," the organizers said.
Gimhae said that it will also drop its plan to host various autumn festivals. It called off the Gimhae Art Festival slated for Sept. 15 and the Ceramics Festival from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1.
Jinju is considering dropping or downsizing the Jinju Namgang Yudeung Festival which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 1.
The central government is recommending regional governments to cancel all events with more than 1,000 participants and running for more than two days.
As of Monday, 6,184 people have been infected with H1N1. Health officials warned that the influenza A may spread further this autumn.