Mugeo-dong Byeolbyeol Festival: A Community United Through Festivities
It seems Ulsan is hosting more festivals than before, especially at the neighborhood level.
Unlike large-scale festivals organized by local governments, these community-led events hold significant meaning. They empower residents, foster community spirit among neighbors, and contribute to the revitalization of the local society.
To support these community initiatives, Ulsan is promoting the 'Community Building Project Contest' to encourage resident-led activities.
Among the successful projects from last year, the 'Byeolbyeol Festival' has returned this year. Before winter fully arrives, I visited Mugeo-dong, where residents have come together to create a generation-connecting project filled with starlight-like memories.
The Mugeo-dong community group, 'Local Design Group,' organized the 'Generation-Linking Byeolbyeol Festival' around the Mugeo-dong Administrative Welfare Center and its four-season outdoor garden, focusing on a parallel space project where generations coexist and communicate.
Despite being a local festival, it offered a variety of attractions comparable to those of government-sponsored events, including experience classrooms, exhibition gardens, a market & playground, a concert, and a stamp tour.
Mugeo-dong residents directly participated in the experience booths and performances, establishing the unique identity of the Byeolbyeol Festival.
The Mugeo-dong Administrative Welfare Center, usually handling resident affairs during the week, transformed into a festival venue. The center's parking lot was filled with various entertainment and food booths, resembling any other festival site, while the second floor hosted diverse experience classes for children.
In the four-season garden behind the center, the results of the Mugeo-dong photo contest were displayed, along with the 'Nth First Birthday' photo exhibition, featuring Mugeo-dong grandmothers in a modern take on the traditional Korean 'doljanchi' (first birthday celebration).
This festival was planned with the idea of being the starting point for a community story created by the residents themselves. Starting from last year and continuing this year, we have strived to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere where residents can directly participate in the festival and feel the unique sense of community in Mugeo-dong. I hope the aspirations of the Local Design Group, which continuously builds community culture in Mugeo-dong, resonate well. We will continue to work towards creating a warm community where generations coexist and connect with each other.
Hwang Bo-hwijin, Representative of Local Design Group
Community festivals are meaningful because they allow local residents to come together, communicate, and strengthen their sense of community. Neighbors who usually just pass by each other in their daily lives can meet face-to-face through the festival, prepare together, and naturally rebuild relationships.
This Mugeo-dong Byeolbyeol Festival became an important opportunity for the residents of Mugeo-dong who prepared the festival, the residents of Mugeo-dong who visited the festival, and the citizens of Ulsan who participated in the festival as both hosts and guests to become one and be reborn as the Ulsan community.
I look forward to the unique character that the Byeolbyeol Festival will create each year in Mugeo-dong, and I hope that it will become a special social medium that promotes the connection between the present and the future, going beyond a simple festival.
Mugeo-dong Administrative Welfare Center Address: 38, Daehak-ro 147beon-gil, Nam-gu, Ulsan
Local Design Group Instagram
※ This content is from the 'Ulsan Metropolitan City Blog Reporter Group' and may differ from the official position of Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall.
Source :https://blog.naver.com/ulsan_nuri/224082009306
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