Korea’s oldest beauty pageant to crown ‘multicultural Chunhyang ’
The Chunhyang Festival of Namwon, North Jeolla Province, will include foreign nationals in its annual beauty contest for the first time, as a trial initiative to elevate the local tradition to a global scale. The aim is to attract 1 million visitors, both domestic and foreign, to the event this year.
The 94th edition of the Chunhyang Festival will be held from May 10 to 16 in the southern city of Namwon, the city government and the festival organizing committee said during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday.
“Chunhyang Festival is open to everybody, from all over the world,” said Namwon Mayor Choi Kyungsik, dressed in hanbok as one of the characters from the “Chunhyangjeon” folk tale.
“For the 93 previous editions, Namwon has crowned six Korean beauties annually. This year, we plan to select a ‘multicultural Chunhyang,’ apart from the six Korean ones and assist their cultures to blend into the Namwon region and make the festival a global event,” Choi said.
Held since 1931, the festival commemorates the love between Chunhyang and Lee Mong-ryong, beloved characters from the bestknown Korean love story and folktale.
The story revolves around Chunhyang’s devoted love for Lee despite trials and hardships. It is based on the pansori “Chunhyangga,” the most famous of the five surviving tales of the Korean traditional genre of musical storytelling.
The competition, which only allowed Korean nationals to compete, is now open to women of any nationality born between 1999 and 2007.
Contestants should measure up to Chunhyang’s key characteristics such as fidelity, integrity, wisdom and talents, Choi explained.
Registration is open until April 6 and the beauty contest will be held on May 15. Winners of the contest will be awarded with prize money and become honorary ambassadors of the city.
Meanwhile, the festival will also feature a large-scale parade with characters from the folktale, Korean traditional live music and dance performances, and a hanbok EDM DJ party near Gwanghallu Pavilion, a regional landmark.
Additionally, the city will showcase its new brand of makgeolli, or Korean traditional rice wine, in collaboration with star chef Paik Jong-won during the festival.
The city plans to improve amenities for tourists, such as English signboards and menus, to cater to foreign visitors, and will set up a hanbok rental booth during the festival to encourage them to participate in Korean culture.
“Korea’s rural areas are going through a demographic crisis and multiculturalism is the key to our survival. This will be the first of many years to make Chunhyang Festival global and the city plans to help stimulate the regional economy through the event,” Choi said.
Namwon has a population of 76,479 as of February and some 31 percent of them are aged over 65.