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| A view of Petit France, a French village theme park in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province. / Courtesy of Petit France |
By Kim Rahn
Petit France, a theme park featuring a French village in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, holds its fourth Europe Fairyland Festival from May 1 to June 28.
The park, built with a theme of French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery's novel "Le Petit Prince" (The Little Prince) and a French rural village, has become one of the most famous tourist attractions in recent years, especially after soap opera "My Love from the Star" was filmed here.
The village now hosts the festival with sculptures and puppet shows featuring characters from fairytales such as Pinocchio and Snow White. Photo zones with fairytale costumes, a new trail, and various other programs are prepared.
The main performance is a marionette show of Pinocchio, an Italian story which has a modern adaption. Music, dancing by the puppets, human actors' miming and magic shows will also be presented.
Sculptures of four insects called "Fabre Band," named after the French entomologist Jean Henri Fabre, will also be introduced at the festival. The band will feature a sculpture of Micropolis, an insect museum near Fabre's birthplace in France. A grasshopper, a cicada, a cricket and a long-horned grasshopper each play a musical instrument.
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| Visitors walk on the Pont de Fabre, a trail linking a park and an observatory near Petit France. |
Petit France has also built a trail named "Pont de Fabre," meaning Fabre's bridge. The 130-meter bridge links a park and an observatory behind the village. Visitors can look down on the entire Petit France village and Cheongpyeong Lake close by.
There are photo zones around the park where visitors can record their experience. The zones feature Le Petit Prince, Snow White, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and the Town Musician of Bremen. Visitors can try on costumes of the fairytale characters.
For those hoping for a fairytale-like love story, Petit France presents a "room of proposal" at one of its belfries where a man, or woman, can propose to their loved one. Those making reservations through the website can borrow the whole belfry for one hour between the times of 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. every Friday and Saturday for 50,000 won.
Other programs for the festival include fairytale book sales and making or painting plaster figures.
About Petit France
Petit France opened near Cheongpyeong Lake in July 2008. Many Korean soap operas have been shot there since, including "Beethoven Virus," "Secret Garden," and "My Love from the Star."
It opened Saint-Exupery Memorial Hall and obtained an official license from the Succession Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a foundation run by the author's descendants which manages intellectual property of his works. The hall displays articles left by the author, and Petit France is the only place in Korea that can get such articles from the foundation and show them.
Many buildings there show French and European lifestyle. One features a traditional French house in the 19th century; another offers antiques from France; and another exhibits 300 dolls from Europe.
Regular performances include an orgel demonstration that presents music from orgels made in the 18th-20th centuries; as well as marionette and other puppet shows.
The entrance fee is 8,000 won for adults, 6,000 won for middle or high school students, and 5,000 won for children under 13. It has lodgings with various sizes of rooms.
Gapyeong County operates a shuttle bus connecting tourist spots there, so those taking subways or trains can get off at Cheongpyeong Station or Gapyeong Station and take the bus.
For more information, call 031-584-8200 or visit www.pfcamp.com.
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