Arirang Festival
Encyclopedia
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
: 아리랑 축제 Hanja
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
: 아리랑 祝祭) are held in the Rungrado May Day Stadium
Rungrado May Day Stadium
The Rŭngrado May First Stadium, or May Day Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, completed on May 1, 1989.-Overview:The stadium was constructed as a main stadium for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1989....
in Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. The two-month gymnastics and artistic festival celebrates the birthday of Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
(15 April).
History
The festival has been held from August until October since 2002-2005, and 2007 until the present.Iconography
The Mass Games possess an important ideological character praising the Workers Party of North KoreaWorkers Party of North Korea
The Workers Party of North Korea was a communist party in North Korea, a predecessor of the current Workers Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on August 28–30, 1946, by the merger of the North Korea Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party. Kim Tu-bong, the...
, its armed forces
Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army , also known as the Inmin Gun, are the military forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Kim Jong-il is the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and Chairman of the National Defence Commission...
, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. These messages may not be clear to foreign spectators
Tourism in North Korea
Organized by the state owned Korea International Travel Company, Tourism in North Korea is highly controlled by the government, and as such it is not a frequently visited destination — roughly 1,500 Western tourists visit North Korea each year, along with thousands of Asians. Tourists must go on...
who are not aware of North Korean iconography: a rising sun symbolizes Kim Il Sung. When a gun is shown, it signifies the gun which Kim Il Sung gave to his son Kim Jong Il. The color red, particularly in flowers, stands for the working class. And the color purple and purple flowers represent Kim Il Sung (as the flower 'Kimilsungia
Kimilsungia
Kimilsungia is a hybrid cultivar of orchid, Dendrobium 'Kim Il-sung'. Another flower, the Kimjongilia, is named after Kim Il-sung's son, Kim Jong-il. Contrary to popular belief, neither the Kimilsungia or the Kimjongilia are a national flower of North Korea...
is a purple orchid and the flower 'Kimjongilia
Kimjongilia
Kimjongilia is a flower named after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. It is a hybrid cultivar of tuberous begonia.Contrary to popular belief, the Kimjongilia is not a national flower of North Korea...
' is a red begonia
Begonia
Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae and is a perennial. The only other members of the family Begoniaceae are Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands, and the genus Symbegonia which more recently was included in Begonia...
). A snowy mountain with a lake represents Mount Paektu where Kim Jong Il is said to have been born in a log cabin.
Participants
From as young as 5 years old, citizensPolitics of North Korea
The politics of North Korea take place within a nominally democratic multi-party system within the framework of the official state philosophy, Juche, a concept created by the founder of the North Korean state, Kim Il-sung, and his son and successor as leader, Kim Jong-il. In practice, North Korea...
are selected based on skill level to serve for the Arirang Festival for many years. In most cases this will be the way of life for them until retirement.
Events
The opening event of the two month festival are the mass gamesMass games
Mass games or mass gymnastics are a form of performing arts or gymnastics in which large numbers of performers take part in a highly regimented performance that emphasizes group dynamics rather than individual prowess.-Methods:...
, which are famed for the huge mosaic pictures created by more than 30,000 well trained and disciplined school children
Education in North Korea
Education in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is strictly controlled by the government. Children go through one year of kindergarten, four years of primary education, six years of secondary education, and then on to universities. The most prestigious university in the DPRK is Kim Il-sung...
, each holding up coloured cards, in an event known in the West as a card stunt
Card stunt
Card stunts are a planned, coordinated sequence of actions performed by an audience, whose members raise cards that, in the aggregate, create a recognizable image. The images they create can range widely and, through careful planning, the same cards can create a number of different images by...
, accompanied by complex and highly choreographed group routines performed by tens of thousands of gymnasts
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
and dancers.
World record
In August 2007, the Arirang Mass Games were recognised by Guinness World RecordsGuinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as the biggest event of its kind. In recent years, foreign tourists have been allowed to watch one of the many performances.
See also
- A State of MindA State of MindA State of Mind is a 2004 documentary film directed by Daniel Gordon and produced by Nicholas Bonner. The film follows two North Korean child gymnasts and their families for over eight months during training for the 2003 Pyongyang mass games...
- UK produced documentary about child gymnasts in training for the Mass Games - JucheJucheJuche or Chuch'e is a Korean word usually translated as "self-reliance." In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , "Juche" refers specifically to a political thesis of Kim Il-sung, the Juche Idea, that identifies the Korean masses as the masters of the country's development...
- Propaganda in North KoreaPropaganda in North KoreaThe propaganda in North Korea is extensively based on the Juche ideology to promote the Workers' Party of Korea line. From its beginning to this day the propaganda is omnipresent.-Cult of personality:...
- Tourism in North KoreaTourism in North KoreaOrganized by the state owned Korea International Travel Company, Tourism in North Korea is highly controlled by the government, and as such it is not a frequently visited destination — roughly 1,500 Western tourists visit North Korea each year, along with thousands of Asians. Tourists must go on...
External links
- Werner Kranwetvogel Massgames Pictures
- Steve Gong Arirang Festival, North Korea 2008
- Arirang Festival 1stopkorea.com
Further reading
- Mass Gymnastics in Korea, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, North Korea, 2002, Softcover, 48 pages
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