The 41st Geumsan World Ginseng Festival began its 10-day journey starting today with the theme ‘Mom, be happy.’ The Festival started at 10 a.m. on the 6th, with the Opening Ceremony to be held at the Geumsan World Ginseng Expo Square at 7 p.m., debuting the ‘Gaesam(Open the ginseng world)’ Event for the successful hosting of the festival, and will continue until 7 p.m. on the 15th, with the Closing Ceremony to be held.
At today's Opening Ceremony, a declaration of Geumsan County as the World Ginseng Capital will be held to commemorate the listing of ginseng as the one of WTO GIAHS (Globally Important Agricultural Systems) in 2018 and to honor the 100th anniversary of Geumsan Ginseng Agricultural Cooperative. To celebrate this, about 120 people from three groups, including Geumsan Philharmonic Orchestra, Geumsan Boys and Girls Choir, and Geumsan Ginseng Choir, which are led by Geumsan residents, will participate in a stage featuring the characteristics of the Geumsan region.
In addition, a variety of charms will be showcased, including performances by popular domestic singers, a Hanbok (Korea’s traditional dress) fashion show, a vocal performance by a team of Hanbat National University professors, and a Nongak (Korea’s traditional farm music) performance by the Geumsan musicians.
Geumsan-gun also heightens in this Festival the value of ginseng, which has historically been in the spotlight as a global luxury product to the extent that it was used as a diplomatic tool with neighboring countries, so the Festival is held for the first time under the title of the World Ginseng Festival and actively promoted the globalization of ginseng food to expand the global ginseng market.
Park Beom-in, the governor of Geumsan-gun, said, “In order to foster the ginseng industry worldwide, we worked with chef Paik Jong-won to develop the world’s first ginseng soup, ginseng rice noodles, ginseng fritters, and ginseng sausage that can be tasted at the Ginseng Food Corner at the Festival venue. So, I hope many tourists come and enjoy new and diverse ginseng foods and receive plenty of healthy energy,”
In addition, County Governor Park stressed, “One of the pleasures of visiting this Festival is that you can enjoy affordable health shopping at discounted prices at the largest ginseng herb market in Korea to receive the gift of immunity for your family,” This Festival is expected to become Korea’s representative health food festival by targeting young people with the help of the Korean Wave, introducing new contents including robot technology, and strengthening ginseng-themed experience events onward.
