Chungcheongnam-do

▲ World heritage tourists attending the event

About 1,000 tourists from Korea and Japan gathered in Gongju and Buyeo to walk through the Baekje Historic Areas of World Heritage, sharing the love and understanding of each other’s cultures.

Chungcheongnam-do had earlier revealed that the province would host the “1st Walking Festa in Baekje”, with co-hosts of Korea Tourism Organization and Buyeo-gun, in the cities of UNESCO World Heritage, city of Gongju and Buyeo-gun, from the 27th to 28th. This event had been developed as a tour product combining leisure sports and Baekje culture to induce regular visits of Korean and Japanese tourists who are interested in the culture of the Baekje civilization.

Held for the first time this year, the event featured an eve ceremony and Sansa music concert on the 1st day and a walk and other events on the 2nd day.

During the eve ceremony held on the 27th at the Korean Culture Training Institute in Gongju, Mr. No Jungguk, a professor at Keimyung University and former chairman of Baekje Historic Areas World Cultural Heritage promotion committee, gave a lecture, showcasing the essence of “Baekje Historic Areas of World Heritage.”

After the lecture, Sansa music concert took place at Magoksa Temple where traditional gugak and fusion gugak performances were beautifully conducted with Oh Jung-hae, a Korean classical musician, and Furuya Masayuki, an ambassador of the new Korean Wave, serving as emcees.

In particular, the performance featured a compilation of traditional gugak and temple music, traditional folk songs, salpuri, a pansori “Saranga,” and a special performance by Mrs. Oh and other traditional gugak recitals. Then, “Rageum Orchestra,” a fusion gugak group, came on stage to play various masterpieces and soundtrack music familiar to the audience as well as excitingly and dynamically create gugak ensembles to cap off the eve of the event in a fantastic manner.

On the 28th, Korean and Japanese tourists walked through the UNESCO World Heritage area, which includes Buyeo Gudeurae Ferry, Archaeological Site in Gwanbuk-ri, Busosanseong Fortress, Jeongnimsa Temple Site, Buyeo Museum and Gungnamji Pond. During this event, more than 1,000 people including 300 Japanese tourists and 700 Korean walking club members and tourists walked for four hours over a distance of 7.4km and enjoyed the colorful Baekje culture under a clear fall sky.

At Gungnamji, the destination point, a chestnut festival and a chrysanthemum festival took place, which proved to be a meaningful event during which people could experience Baekje of the past and Buyeo of the present at the same time.

At this large-scale walking event, Chungcheongnam-do and Buyeo-gun operated tourism promotion booths and Korea Tourism Organization went to much effort in promoting Korea Dulle-gil and Durunubi, a walking and biking paths promotion platform.

In addition, the Walking Festa in the Baekje event featured a variety of experience activities other than walking, including Baekje traditional costume wearing, photo zone, busking performances and stamp experience, that caught the attention of tourists.

Namgung Yeong, Vice Governor for Administrative Affairs of Chungcheongnam-do, said, “This year’s Walking Festa in Baekje is a tour product that combines history and leisure sports that have been developed with a focus on encouraging Japanese tourists to visit Baekje area on a regular basis…Chungcheongnam-do will continue to nurture Walking Festa in Baekje as one of the leading fall tour products in the nation.”