The Largest Traditional Festival in Korea

Gangneung Danoje Festival

• In Korea, Seollal and Chuseok are the most significant holidays and fun days spent with family.
  Dano, a holiday in the lunar month of May, was also a big holiday in the past.
  Dano is no longer a holiday, but in Gangneung, it is still celebrated on May 5, the lunar month, on a scale similar to that of Chuseok and Seollal.
  Its history in Gangneung as a famous festival dates back more than a thousand years.

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  Gillori
• Because traditional holidays in Korea follow the lunar calendar, they fall on different days every year.
  In 2023, Gangneung Danoje Festival will be held from June 18 to 25.
  Gangneung Danoje Festival includes a ceremony held for the divine, as well as Dano Gut (Dano Shamanistic Ritual),
  a ritual held for the Gangneung people’s well-being; traditional folk performances like Gwanno Gamyeongeuk (Gwanno Mask Drama) and
  Gangneung Nongak (Farmers’ Performance of Gangneung); and traditional games like Ssireum (Korean Wrestling) and riding large swings.
  It is a festival where the people of Gangneung come together with visitors to share Danoju liquor and surichwitteok, a rice cake made with deltoid synurus plants.
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  Dano Gut (Dano Shamanistic Ritual)
  Nongak (Farmers’ Performance)
  Gwanno Gamyeongeuk (Gwanno Mask Drama)
• As a festival, Dano has a strong ritualistic character where ceremonies and Dano Gut (Dano Shamanistic Ritual)
  are offered to the ancestors for the people’s health and well-being. Danoje Festival begins with brewing liquor.
  Also known as sinju (sacred liquor), this liquor is the most important offering to the divine.
  Sinjubitgi (Brewing of the Sacred Liquor), the first stage of the festival, signals the start of the Gangneung Danoje Festival and is held 30 days before the day of Dano.
  During the Joseon Dynasty, rice for making the liquor was given by the magistrate of Gangneung.
  Today, this tradition is continued by the mayor of Gangneung providing the rice and yeast,
  adding to the rice offered by the people of Gangneung.
  This shows the communal character of the Gangneung Danoje Festival.
  That is also the reason why the Gangneung Danoje Festival features participatory folk performances like Nongak (Farmers’ Performance),
  Haksan Odokttegi (Farmer’s Song of Haksan), and the Hapyeong Dapgyonori (Bridge Walk of Hapyeong).
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  Hapyeong Dapgyonori (Bridge Walk of Hapyeong)
  Haksan Odokttegi (Farmer’s Song of Haksan)
  Ssireum (Korean Wrestling)
• The greatest delight of the festival, however, is the food.
  Gangneung Danoje Festival features potato pancakes, the representative dish of Gangneung, and other local specialties in the open-air market.

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  Fireworks
  
  Gangneung Danoje Festival, listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,
  will be held for eight days from June 18, so let’s enjoy the festivities and wish each other a healthy and happy year.

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  2023 Gangneung Danoje Festival
  
  Date: June 18-25, 2023
  Venue: Around Namdaecheon Stream, Gangneung