Gangwon
Silhyangmin Cultural Festival
실향민문화축제
–
This edition has ended. These dates describe the past event; a future edition has not been confirmed on this page.
Plan your visit
- Dates
- –
- Venue
- Sokcho Expo Lawn Square
- Address
- Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province Sokcho-si Joyang-dong 1546-1 Sokcho Expo Grass Square
- Admission
- Free (some experience programs are paid)
- Organizer
- Sokcho-si / Sokcho Cultural Foundation
Page updated . Dates and availability can change; confirm with the organizer before travelling.
About the festival
The Silhyangmin Cultural Festival is the only national festival celebrating the culture of displaced persons who settled in Sokcho after the Korean War, based on the historical and cultural identity formed by these individuals. It operates as a cultural exchange platform where citizens and tourists can empathize and communicate, reinterpreting the lives, memories, and sentiments of the displaced community centered around Abai Village through cultural and artistic content. Particularly, as the aging and generational changes of the first and second generations of displaced persons increase the need for the preservation and inheritance of their culture, the Silhyangmin Cultural Festival is expanding its participation to include the third and fourth generations of displaced persons, general citizens, and North Korean defectors, thereby broadening the meaning of empathy and harmony across generations. This year marks the eleventh edition of the festival, which aims to widely promote the historical significance and value of displaced persons' culture through various programs such as performances, exhibitions, experiences, and academic events, while culturally reinterpreting the meanings of division, reconciliation, memory, and coexistence that Sokcho embodies. It is also an open cultural festival that anyone, including citizens and tourists, can enjoy together.