Seoul Prepares For Festival Fun
Spring
announces a host of festivals taking place all over Korea. Two of the major
festivals taking place during May, will happen in the country’s vibrant capital
Seoul. The ‘Hi Seoul’ Festival is fun, fresh, and exciting, whilst the 2010
Lotus Lantern Festival enlightens all the senses through celebrating the birth
of the Buddha.
Hi Seoul Festival (May 1st – May 9th, 2010)
Hi
Seoul Festival which ushers in the beautiful season of spring every May, is not
only the catch phrase of the cultural city of Seoul, but a landmark festival
that international visitors participate in and enjoy alongside the local
citizens of Seoul. As well as the Hangang Park that has re-emerged through the
Hangang Renaissance project, all the major concourses and cultural spaces of the
city are used as venues of this unique festival. Running under the concept of a
mix of 5 different themes (Spectacle, Harmony, Fun, Dance, Art), the festival
provides a range of hands-on programmes including a 'World Non-verbal Festival',
'Waterfront Concert', 'Hangang River Birdman Competition', and various Water
Sports. Visitors may also enjoy diverse performances such as B-boy & Poppin’
Dance Battle, Street Arts, Circus, and many others. Homepage
http://hiseoulfest.org (Korean, English)
2010 Lotus Lantern Festival (May
14th Fri - May 16th Sun)
Korea’s Buddhist community will celebrate the
birth of the Buddha with an extravagant, 11-day festival of light called the
Lotus Lantern Festival. Buddha’s birthday is celebrated on the eighth day of the
fourth lunar month, which, this year falls on May 21st. Seoulites get an early
glimpse of colorful paper lanterns that line the city’s major streets, not to
mention the enormous lanterns that decorate the flow of the Cheonggyecheon, the
stream that runs through central Seoul. But this is just a taster for the big
event where an expected 100,000 handmade lanterns that will decorate the city.
Homepage: http://www.llf.or.kr/index_eng.asp (English)