Last weekend was Jeju's Jeongwol Daeboreum Fire Festival which means New Year Full Moon Fire Festival. On the Lunar calendar New Years Day was January 26th and this festival celebrates the first New Moon of the lunar year. Basically, a whole oreum went up in choreographed fireworks, torch flames, and explosives, "burning away all misfortune and the attraction of tremendous luck" for 2009. It was awesome. Most Korean provinces have a fire festival of their own, but Jeju's specifically is said to attract the most spectators. Thousands were in attendance and the foreigner community was especially well represented.
The sun setting over the numerous festival tents
Roast pork, a festival specialty
The oreum lit up as the festivities began (imagine epic music and dramatic Korean narration...)
The procession of torches 
Ready, set...
GO! 
As you can imagine, it was hot and smoky
After the fire there was much traditional drumming, singing, and dancing, drinking, and eating. It was an unforgettable evening spent with wonderful friends and an incredible energy.
1 comment:
Hello, I'm Emma Jang from WorknPlay in Seoul, Korea. I read about your interesting Jeju Fire Festival experience on your personal blog. Would you consider also sharing about this festival on WorknPlay's website? You could use this opportunity to publicize your blog, by include a link to your website.
Here is the announcement about WorknPlay promotion.
http://www.worknplay.co.kr/forums/forumsView.php?bbsID=forums&num=22941&cateCode=,I2V,B2F&start=&page=
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Thank you.
Emma Jang
WorknPlay.co.kr
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