 Traditional musicians perform during a percussion concert at the opening ceremony of last year’s Hi Seoul Festival. |
Staff Reporter
The annual Hi Seoul Festival kicks off its 10-day run today, opening the fun with a massive pop music concert at a riverside stage in Yoido starting at 8 p.m.
The festival, now its fifth year, is bigger and longer than any of its previous events as city officials hope to create an internationally-recognized event as part of its initiative to lure foreign tourists.
The opening ceremony will combine state-of-the-art pyrotechnic shows and boat parades with the stage performances of top pop starts such as Lee Hyo-lee, Super Junior, and Psy.
Since d the first festival in 2003, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been developing the Hi Seoul Festival as the city’s ultimate cultural event.
City officials had first hoped to conserve the festive atmosphere of the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Korea and Japan that saw an unprecedented number of foreign visitors coming to the country.
However, the festival attracted 600,000 visitors in its first year in 2003, with only about 35,600 of them being foreigners.
The share of foreign tourists has been growing in past years, accounting for about 100,000 of the 1.25 million visitors to the festival last year, but municipal officials want to do better.
``The city has a goal of luring 12 million tourists to the country by 2010, which is about a double the current level. The Hi Seoul Festival as a major urban fest in Asia is an important step towards achieving that initiative,’’ said Ahn Ho-sang, chief executive of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, which jointly organizes the festival with the metropolitan government.
``We have expanded the festival’s scale and doubled its duration, as people have been regarding it as an yearly event taking place around the Seoul City Hall and Kwanghwamun. Now, we are looking to incorporate a larger part of the city,’’ he said.
The period of the festival, previously no more than three to four days, has been extended to 10 days, including the opening ceremony this evening.
The venues, which had been largely restricted to Seoul Plaza and nearby downtown places, have expanded to several sites on the embankments of the Han River, including Nodleseom, Yoido, Ttuksom, and Nanjido. The city’s Chosun Kingdom (1392-1910)-era palaces and the Pukchon traditional village are also included in the venues.
Organizers will offer bus tour packages for Chinese, Japanese, and other tourists, in collaboration with a number of travel agencies.
``Integrating the Han River as a venue for the festival, as well as the palaces and the Hanok village, has a symbolic meaning,’’ said Pyo Jae-soon, a 70-year-old dramatist who works as the art director of this year's Hi Seoul Festival.
``Seoul has been known in the past four decades for its rapid industrial development and growth as a regional economic power. Right now, the city is working to earn its stripes as a place that is great to live, by improving the environment and developing culture,’’ said Pyo, who also participated in creating the opening ceremonies for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Under the theme of ``Miracle of Seoul to Unite its Traditions With its Future,’’ the festival will offer participants fun and diverse entertainment through a variety of cultural events and outdoor activities.
The highlight of the event is ``King Chongjo's Royal Procession'' that will take palace April 29.
The event reenacts the famous journey of Chosun's King Chongjo (1776-1800) who made a royal visit to his mother in Hwasong, Kyonggi Province. The reenactment will include around 930 participants and 120 horses.
Thousands of people are expected to join the parade that will start from Changdok Palace and continue through Myongdong, Namdaemun, Seoul Station, Yongsan Station and Nodlesom, an island at the Yongsan section of the Han River.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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