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| yna@yna.co.kr 2023-03-25 10:08:38
SEOUL, Mar. 25 (Yonhap) -- The Jinhae Gunhang Festival in the city of Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province, which touts itself as the nation’s largest cherry blossom festival, has officially kicked off.
The city said that the Festival had its grand opening at 6 p.m. on Friday under the theme of “Opening a New World with Cherry Blossom.”
The opening ceremony of the Festival began with a performance by the Navy’s Marine Base Command honor guard and the headquarters military band, followed by an opening declaration and a celebratory performance.
This Festival will be held in Jinhae-gu, around the city’s Jungwon Rotary, Jinhaeru, Yeojwacheon, Gyeonghwa Station, and the Naval Academy, until April 3.
Diverse events are also scheduled to be held, including a Memorial Grand Festival for Yi Sun-sin as well as riding the Victory Train.
The Martial Music Military Band Festival, one of the highlights of the Jinhae Gunhang Festival, will be held for three days from Mar. 31 to Apr. 2 at the Jinhae Public Stadium.
About 700 people from 14 teams, including South Korea's Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and U.S. military music and honor guard, will showcase marches and band demonstrations.
The Air Force Special Flight Team's Black Eagles Air Show, which will embroider the sky of Jinhae filled with full-blown light pink cherry blossoms, is expected to showcase at 2 p.m. also on the 31st.
From 1:30 p.m. for two days on April 1 and 2, a national parade will march through the route starting from the Bukwon Rotary, extending to Jinhae Station and Jungwon Rotary, and ending at the Public Stadium.
The Jungwon Rotary will display K9 self-propelled guns and K2 tanks built by companies in Changwon.
Meanwhile, the Jinhae Gunhang Festival will continue to bring joy to visitors at night: The marine fireworks show will be held at 8 p.m. on Mar. 29 in front of the Jinhaeru Pavilion. In the meantime, cherry blossoms will exude other charms along with landscape lighting along the Yeojwacheon Stream. There will also be a long line of food trucks and others surrounding the venue.
Additionally, military units such as the Naval Academy and the Naval Marine Base Command, which are usually very inaccessible, will be open during the Festival.
Along with enjoying the coming of spring by gazing at the full-blown cherry blossoms, visitors will also be offered opportunities to enjoy unusual experiences of visiting disclosed navy ships, boarding on a turtle ship, looking over the naval photo exhibition, and trying on a military uniform, as well as shooting a paintball gun.
Ahead of the Festival, the city has equipped itself with a brand-new mobile public warning service that would send out warning signals when there is too much crowd packed in an area so that they may be dispersed, expecting some 4.5 million people to visit this year's festival.
During the festival, more than 6,000 people, including public officials and volunteers, will be stationed in every nook and cranny of the Festival for the sake of the visitors’ safety.
Mayor Hong Nam-pyo of Changwon said, "Our Jinhae Gunhang Festival will make a new leap into a festival where history and future, nature and industry, youth and years coexist, and will grow into a global representative brand festival that befits Changwon, the central city of Northeast Asia."
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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