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Municipalities refuse entry to cancelled flower festival areas
Local residents pass by a famous cherry blossom festival spot in Changwon's Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Sunday. Changwon City has set up fences there to control visitor access amid COVID-19 fears. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Local administrations and district offices governing villages and streets famous for spring flower festivals have taken stronger measures to ban visitors from entering the related areas as there are still people who are visiting to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom despite the cancellations amid COVID-19 fears, officials said Monday.
Their actions to keep tourists, who ignore the pleas to refrain from visiting the regions in accordance with the government's social distancing guidelines, out of the areas include setting up fences and mobilizing police.
The strong measures came as two Busan residents in their 60s were confirmed to be infected with the new coronavirus, March 23, after going flower-viewing to Gurye, South Jeolla Province, March 18.
Gurye County had already called off its annual Gurye Sansuyu Festival featuring Cornelian cherry flowers earlier this month, but the two visited the region anyways.
Changwon City in South Gyeongsang Province announced the cancellation of this year's Jinhae Gunhangje Festival, the nation's largest cherry blossom festival, Feb. 27. But officials remain concerned as there are many people coming to view the flowers.
As a result, Changwon City decided to close off tourist attractions, including streets near Gyeonghwa Station, from visitors and cars by installing fences until the flowers wither.
The city has also mobilized more than 100 police and city officials every day to control access of visitors and street vendors, while carrying out continuous disinfection activities.
“There have been a lot of worries as the festival attracted more than 4 million visitors last year,” Changwon Mayor Huh Sung-moo said. “We need to actively participate in social distancing to contain the spread of COVID-19.”
Seoul's Songpa District has canceled its annual Seokchon Lake Cherry Blossom Festival, announcing its decision to shut down entrances to the lake from March 28 to April 12.
The Songpa-gu Office set up 166 iron fences at 54 entrances to the lake and maintains personnel there to control visitor access.
It marked the first time that the lake became off-limits to visitors since the festival began in the early 2000s.
Seoul's Yeongdeungpo District also said it will close off Yunjung-no, the cherry blossom tree-lined street behind the National Assembly in Yeouido, to visitors (from April 2 to 10) and cars (from April 1 to 11).