Annual Historical Festival Opens In Seosan

A yearly celebrated historical festival opened in the city of Seosan on Friday.

The historical festival is called "The Seosan Haemieupseong Festival" which was named after the city of Seosan and it has been held every year since 2000. The festival aims to promote the history and culture of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) as well as to offer a series of traditional activities inside the wall of preserved fortress.  The town of Seosan had served as a cultural and logistical hub for its proximity and central location to China and came under frequent attacks during the time of conflicts.

This year is the 15th anniversary of the festival and it will run for three consecutive days around the Haemieupseong Fortress, which was built 600 years ago to defend the region from Japanese invaders. It is also one of South Korea's well-preserved fortresses and a famous workplace of former commander-in-chief of Chungcheong Provinceand Admiral Yi Sun-shin.

In 2014, Pope Francis visited the Haemieupseong Fortress to honor the 1,000 Roman Catholics who were martyred on its ground in 1856.

In the event launching, an ancestral rite was held inside the fortress to hope for the success of the festival. After the launching, an opening ceremony with different traditional performances and activities will be held at different sites along the area including traditional crafts making, folk music performances, tightrope walking and reenactments of Joseon era military parades. For visitors wishing to see more of Seosan city, tours have been organized.

The main highlight of the event will be a fashion show with Miss Global Beauty Queen contestants last year representing 80 countries worldwide. During the gala show which will be held on Saturday, the women will be wearing their traditional costumes and will serve as honorary ambassadors of the festival.

According to the organizers, around 200,000 people visited the festival every year. In order to provide useful information for the event, a website (www.haemifest.com) was operated by the event organizers. Some 200,000 people have visited the event each year, according to the organizers that operate a website (www.haemifest.com) to provide useful information on the event.

Furthermore, the travel time of visitors coming from Seoul to Seosan will be less than two hours by an express bus.