SPRING FESTIVALS CANCELLED

[Anchor Lead]

Fearing the spread of COVID-19, most of this year’s spring festivals have been either cancelled or postponed much like last year. Farmers and merchants who have been expecting increased demands from the festivals have been let down once again.

[Pkg]

This minari farmer in Daegu is plowing out the crops he had cultivated. This year’s Minari and Pork Festival has again been cancelled due to the pandemic, cutting the consumption of the fragrant green herb by nearly half.

[Soundbite] Kim Beom-su(Minari Farmer) : "I can’t describe the feeling of plowing over and discarding the crops I worked so hard to grow."

Other popular spring festivals around the country are suffering due to the pandemic for two years in a row. Only a handful of festivals, such as the Jeju Canola Flower Festival and the Namwon Chunhyang Festival, will be held remotely. Most other festivals, such as the famous Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival in Seoul, the Jinhae Gunhangje Cherry Blossom Festival and the Biseulsan Azalea Cultural Festival, have either been cancelled or postponed to later in the year. Ninety-percent of some 50 large spring festivals in Korea have been cancelled or postponed. Concerns are mounting for local governments organizing these events as sporadic infections keep occurring in the hosting regions and tourists come from all over the country. One solution for merchants is to find online markets for their products.

[Soundbite] Sohn Yeong-ki(Agricultural Distribution Team, Daegu Metropolitan Gov’t) : "We plan to pioneer different markets for local agricultural products by supporting and expanding online sales or direct sales of local food."

Farmers and merchants who had been counting on these spring festivals will have to wait another year to see their hard work pay off.