Local festivals in Korea have been developed to build local identity and secure competitiveness of regions through cohesion of local residents. However, most local festivals have focused only on their appearances today, overlooking the essential funct...
Local festivals in Korea have been developed to build local identity and secure competitiveness of regions through cohesion of local residents. However, most local festivals have focused only on their appearances today, overlooking the essential function of a festival as a joyful event, resulting in uniformity of festivals without uniqueness and distinctiveness of each region. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the problems of local festivals in Korea and establish criteria for organizing a good festival that everyone can enjoy.
Festivals originated from seeking God to relieve stress and suffering that human beings experience in life. Through the encounter with God, human beings realize that they are perfect beings which contradicts their preconception of human imperfection. Human beings develop empathy as they realize that God and they are same rather than different. The empathy leads to the communication with God, which leads to the communication between people, and the place turns into an arena of festival. In this way, communication starts from the realization of perfect “I” and the empathy that God and I are one. Empathy develops with the realization of the perfect “I” and the mutual recognition of each other’s perfection. Such empathy leads to unbound communication. Communication without empathy is no more than a compromise. This is also the biggest problem of local festivals in Korea. As festivals are held in compromises based on each other’s goals today, communication is gone, and the essential function of festival is left behind. Ensuring empathy instead of each other’s goals and communicating and collaborating are integral to enhancing the quality of festival and organizing a good festival.
Human beings have always wanted to be liberated from work, and festivals have emerged as a way of liberation from everyday life. They wanted a deviation by creating changes in emotion through the festivals, which cannot be felt in daily lives. Such deviation required methods, which are a festival and a play. Deviations are seen as crazy. Human beings become crazy both when they are stressed out and when they are not. Becoming crazy due to stress is suffering; becoming crazy due to no stress is enjoyment. Simply deviating to satisfy one’s desire does not allow confirmation of mutual empathy, and deviation without empathy is not a festival. Therefore, deviations in festivals must be craziness to find pleasure through empathy and to confirm the perfect “I.” I think festivals are craziness. However, most festivals today cannot be considered good festivals because such craziness does not exist in them.
Despite the fact that festivals have many problems today, there are many festivals in individual regions and many people are looking for festivals. This is because many people who are looking for festivals still have the positive spirit that festivals are fun. Therefore, we need to develop criteria for organizing a good festival, which I set as “affectionate festival,” “communicative festival,” and “voluntary festival.”
Affectionate festival is the festival in which I can find the perfect “I.” Finding the perfect “I” is to be honest with one’s feelings, know where I come from, know that my body is precious, and know the feeling of love. This is affection; therefore, affectionate festival is the happy festival in which I find the perfect “I” and that is loved by everyone.
Communicative festival is the festival in which people recognize each other’s empathy, communicate, and enjoy. A festival without communication cannot be a good festival. Communication should be based on empathy with each other, and communication cannot exist without empathy. It must be a good festival if people have empathy with, communicate, and enjoy each other.
Voluntary festival is the festival that is created by everyone together. In a good festival, “I” voluntarily take actions. Festivals with voluntary actions are always enjoyable. Good festivals have no goals and no pressure; they just have affection shared in enjoyment.
As the criteria of a good festival suggests, what should be considered first in festival is empathy and communication. A festival without empathy and communication cannot be a good festival. Empathy and communication are the spirit of festival that has never changed from the past to the present, and such spirit make “I” “uniquely mine.” We Koreans have experienced how enjoyable good festivals are during our street cheering during 2002 World Cup and the candlelight rally in Gwanghwamun. Therefore, we should not forget empathy and communication as the spirit of festival when planning and organizing a festival, and make it a happy festival for all of us in which we empathize and communicate with each other.