POSTED: June 13th 2011
Appointments
PyeongChang 2018 gets boost from over 130,000 at Dano Festival
LAURA WALDEN / Sports Features Communications
TAMPA/PYEONGCHANG, Jun 13: The coastal city of Gangneung hosted over 130,000 visitors between June 4-11 for the celebrations of a thousand year old folk festival reaffirming its identity as a cultural destination.
This opening on June 4th, featured a Yeongsin Parade that especially highlighted the support of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic bid.
Visitors came from all over Korea and abroad to enjoy the country's oldest folk festival held under the theme of communication and harmony. It is known for its range of cultural arts performances similar to what the PyeongChang 2018 bid has described as their cultural plan in their “Best of Korea” cultural program.
Gangneung city is the focalpoint for the ice venues in the bid plan for the 2018 Games.
The Gangneung Danoje (Dano Festival), designated by UNESCO as one of the world’s "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity," is known as a traditional Korean holiday that falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. The Dano Festival worships the sky deity in celebration of the end of the sowing season.
This year’s international performances included China’s Sichuan Opera, Mongol’s Mongolian Melody, and Japan’s Gamigaki Sagat ritualistic dance, to name a few. The agenda also included a Ssireyum competition (Korean wrestling) and various games.
Bid ceo, Yang Ho Cho, said, “Once again, the people of Gangneung showed their passion for the PyeongChang 2018 bid by showing their support at this important festival.
“Gangwon Province is full of Korean cultural tradition. It would be a great pleasure and honour for us to have the opportunity to share both our cultural riches and the dynamic attractions of modern Korea, as well as the Korean enthusiasm for winter sports, with the Olympic Family and visitors from around the world in 2018.”
There are 23 days left in the bid race to choose the destination of the 2018 winter Games and Paralympics. Annecy, Munich and PyeongChang are all three competing for top postition when the IOC selects a host city on July 6th at the IOC session in Durban, South Africa.
Keywords · PyeongChang 2018 · Gangneung · Dano Festival · Yang Ho Cho
For more information contact:
Laura Walden ()
All original materials contained in this section are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Sports Features Communications, Inc the owner of that content. It is prohibited to alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
