Dano Holiday

[Anchor Lead]

Today marks "dano," a traditional Korean holiday that falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the lunar calendar. A festival celebrating the holiday is underway in Ganggeung, Gangwon-do Province. The Gangngeung Danoje Festival is even on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

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The Gangneung Danoje Festival has entered its fourth day, having commenced on May 27th. Seventy-one programs in 12 categories have been prepared. The festival is reaching its peak with a series of events having been held since last weekend, including a parade of masks and traditional costumes around the village to enshrine the main guardian of the festival on an altar. Other events include traditional farming music and local accent contests. Hands-on experiences of traditional culture, such as washing hair in iris water and riding on swings, are also available. New programs were added to this year's festival, held eight months before the start of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. In hopes for the successful hosting of the Olympiad, a giant rice cake big enough to feed 2,018 people was put on display, and a carp-shaped structure crafted from 2,018 messages was installed. The Gangneung Danoje Festival has become an international event since its addition to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2005. This year's festival, which is featuring more diverse events to celebrate the hosting of the Olympic Games, will end on June third with a fireworks display.