[Yonhap Imagine] Nationwide Sports Festival and East Asia Cultural City... 2024, the Year of Visiting Gimhae

연합뉴스 / 2024-03-04 15:46:43

Gimhae City in Gyeongsangnam-do has designated the year 2024, when major domestic and international events take place, as the "Year of Visiting Gimhae," welcoming visitors from both home and abroad.

This year holds special significance for Gimhae City as it hosts the 105th Nationwide Sports Festival and the East Asia Cultural City event involving South Korea, China, and Japan.

The Year of Visiting Gimhae will feature ten major events centered around various contents held in Gimhae.

These events include the Nationwide (Disabled) Sports Festival (October) and the East Asia Cultural City event (April to October), as well as the Gaya Cultural Festival (April), Gimhae Flower Festival and Gimhae Cultural Heritage Night Tour (May), Gimhae Gayageum Festival (August), Jinnyeong Persimmon Festival, Gimhae Buncheong Ceramics Festival, and the Creation Opera "Queen Heo Hwang" performance (October), and the Gimhae Cultural Foundation's Season G and Signature G events (May to December).

Gimhae will be the host city for the 105th Nationwide Sports Festival, which will take place from October 11th to 17th at venues including the Gimhae Sports Complex and in 19 cities and counties in Gyeongsangnam-do, featuring 49 sports.

The 44th Nationwide Disabled Sports Festival will be held from October 25th to 30th at venues including the Gimhae Sports Complex and in 12 cities and counties in Gyeongsangnam-do, featuring 31 sports with participation of over 30,000 athletes and officials for the Nationwide Sports Festival and around 9,000 athletes for the Disabled Sports Festival.

Gimhae will shine as an East Asia Cultural City.

Selected as the 10th city nationwide and the first among Gyeongsangnam-do municipalities, Gimhae has been designated as the "2024 East Asia Cultural City" by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In cooperation with South Korea's Gimhae City, China's Weifang and Dalian, and Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture, 16 cultural exchange projects will be implemented throughout the year. These include the opening ceremony in April linked with the Gaya Cultural Festival, the East Asia Sculpture Exhibition from April to November, the String Instrument Festival, and the closing ceremony in November linked with the Nationwide Sports Festival.

The city will renovate its representative tourist facilities such as the Gaya Theme Park, Nakdonggang Rail Park, and Gimhae Comprehensive Tourist Information Center. Furthermore, it will promote the revitalization of grassroots tourism organizations (DMO) focusing on tourist spots such as Bonghwangdae-gil and downtown areas popular among the MZ generation with retro vibes. Additional activities include operating pop-up stores, installing sculptures, landscape lighting, and photo zones, developing and selling limited goods, offering special travel weeks with discounted admission fees and accommodations, and promoting through famous domestic SNS influencers.

The city will also develop specialized tourism content, create themed tourism courses with major tourist resources, establish strategies for online and offline promotion, and marketing.

Mayor Hong Tae-yong stated, "This year, Gimhae is filled with not only domestic but also international events as the 'Year of Visiting Gimhae,'" and expressed his commitment to pouring efforts into achieving the city's growth and creating a new happy city.