Jeju Island Hosts 2024 Tamra Country Spring Festival: A Celebration of Blooming Spring

Jeju Island to Host 2024 Gabjin Year Tamra Country Spring Festival

Jeju Island, South Korea – The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province announced that the 2024 Gabjin Year Tamra Country Spring Festival will be held from February 2nd to 4th at Jeju Mokgwang-A. This year’s festival, with the theme “Blooming Spring, New Day,” has expanded from Jeju City to include Seogwipo City.

Diverse Events and Performances

The spring festival will be organized in collaboration with the Jeju Great Gut Preservation Association, Jeju Chilmeori Dangyeon Gut Preservation Association, and Yeonggam Nolli Gut Preservation Association. The festivities will begin with the “Chungyeongmun Gut” on February 2nd, followed by the “Doseong Sammun Geori Gut” which will start from the East, West, and South Gates of the old Jeju City and lead to Gwandeokjeong.

Various Ceremonies and Events

During the festival, various traditional ceremonies and events will take place to celebrate the arrival of spring. These include the Confucian ritual of “Segeongje,” where the Governor Oh Young-hoon will participate as the chief officiant. There will also be the “Sarisaelsung” ritual, where participants break clay pots to ward off evil spirits and scatter beans for good luck. Additionally, the “Nangshe” ceremony, where a wooden cow named “Nangshe” is worshipped, and the “Nangshe Kosha,” a ritual to honor the cow, will be held. On the second day, various performances and experiential events such as the Spring Ancestral Journey, Spring Chatting and Buckwheat Cake Sharing, and Jeju Gut Creation Workshop will be held to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Grand Finale with the Gabjin Year Tamra Country Gut

The festival will culminate on the last day, February 4th, with the Gabjin Year Tamra Country Gut, where 18,000 Jeju deities will be summoned. Throughout the festival, there will be food stalls offering local delicacies like “Cheonnyang Guksu” (thousand-year noodles), as well as experiential areas and a spring market. Kim Yang-bo, the Director of the Jeju Provincial Office of Culture and Sports, expressed his commitment to preserving the traditional programs of the Gabjin Year Tamra Country Gut and promoting the festival as a platform for Jeju’s cultural heritage, embracing all generations and welcoming foreign participants.

Jeju’s vibrant spring will be heralded by the Gabjin Year Tamra Country Spring Festival, taking place from February 2nd to 4th at Jeju Mokgwang-A. With the theme “Blooming Spring, New Day,” this year’s event has expanded from Jeju City to include Seogwipo City. The festival is organized in collaboration with the Jeju Great Gut Preservation Association, Jeju Chilmeori Dangyeon Gut Preservation Association, and Yeonggam Nolli Gut Preservation Association. The festivities will kick off with the “Chungyeongmun Gut” on February 2nd. The “Doseong Sammun Geori Gut” will follow, starting from the East, West, and South Gates of the old Jeju City and leading to Gwandeokjeong. The Confucian ritual of “Segeongje” and the “Sarisaelsung” ritual, where clay pots are broken to ward off evil spirits and beans are scattered for good luck, are among the various ceremonies and events planned. On the second day, there will be performances and experiential events such as the Spring Ancestral Journey, Spring Chatting and Buckwheat Cake Sharing, and Jeju Gut Creation Workshop. The festival will culminate on February 4th with the Gabjin Year Tamra Country Gut, where 18,000 Jeju deities will be summoned. Food stalls, experiential areas, and a spring market will be available throughout the festival. Kim Yang-bo, the Director of the Jeju Provincial Office of Culture and Sports, aims to preserve the traditional programs of the Gabjin Year Tamra Country Gut and promote the festival as a platform for Jeju’s cultural heritage, welcoming participants from all generations and foreign visitors.