Swine fever fears take toll on festivals

A truck is doused with disinfectant solution to prevent the spread of African swine fever on a road in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Local governments, especially in regions affected by the disease, have been canceling their autumn festivals to prevent it from spreading. / Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

In the wake of African swine fever (ASF) infections, local governments have canceled or postponed their own long-prepared festivals as part of efforts to stop the spread of the infectious animal disease.

Regional education offices are also scrapping school events such as field trips and athletic meets as a precaution.

Since the first case was reported Sept. 17 in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, ASF has been spreading, mostly in northern Gyeonggi Province and westward to Ganghwa Island off Incheon.

According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, the Korean International Ceramic Biennale, scheduled to open Friday and run through Nov. 24 in Icheon, Gwangju and Yeoju, has been canceled due to the spread of the disease.

Since its inauguration in 2001, the event has promoted artistry, increased the popular appeal of ceramics and facilitated the marketing of the industry's products. It is the lone international festival for ceramics and crafts in the world, and drew more 600,000 visitors in 2017.

Following the cancellation, the event organizer is now offering refunds to the 120,000 people who bought tickets in advance.

All local cultural and athletic events have been called off in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, home to 342 pig farms raising 855,000 pigs, and accounting for 5 percent of the country's total swine livestock.

“We inevitably had to decide to cancel the festivals and events to protect the farms in the city,” Governor Kim Seok-whan said.

Anseong City in southern Gyeonggi Province has also scrapped its Baudeogi Festival, a 19-year-old annual event that was slated for Oct. 2 to 6. The event celebrating “namsadang nori,” or traditional Korean folk performance entertainment, was designated as an official festival of UNESCO's International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts in 2006. The event organizers convened an emergency meeting Tuesday and decided on the cancellation due to the deadly virus.

Incheon, which has seen three confirmed ASF cases on Ganghwa Island, has shelved its annual events including the Cheongna Wine Festival, “Bestival” and Songdo Light Festival. Bestival, a “Konglish” portmanteau of bicycle and festival, features a bicycle parade, BMX performances and children's art contest.

Precautionary moves have even extended to other provinces further south, as the Yakdol Hanwoo Festival in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, and the National Horse Festival in Yeongcheon of the same province have been canceled.

The Gimpo Office of Education Support has instructed elementary schools to postpone field trips, after the virus was detected at a Gimpo-based farm earlier this week.

Seoul-based elementary schools have canceled picnics to Paju, where two ASF cases have been confirmed.

As of Thursday, there are a total of seven confirmed ASF cases, with the latest being discovered at a farm on Ganghwa Island that day, according to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency.

The agriculture ministry, which initiated a 48-hour “standstill” at all pig farms, feed factories and slaughterhouses nationwide Tuesday, said, Thursday that the order will be extended for another two days.