▲ This file photo shows the Jeju Fire Festival. (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Mar. 12 (Yonhap) -- The Jeju Fire Festival, which was scheduled to be held on Mar. 18, was canceled due to wildfires in the eastern coastal areas of South Korea.

The city of Jeju, which hosts the festival, announced on Mar. 12 that it will not hold this year's 24th Jeju Fire Festival to share the pain as residents in the region are suffering from the recent massive wildfires in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang Province.

Jeju City explained that it decided to cancel the event due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, which has reached 5,000 daily confirmed cases, along with the wildfire damage.

The staff from Jeju City said, "We sincerely feel sorry for the victims of wildfires and deeply appreciate the hard work of firefighters and volunteers,” adding, “We also hope the eastern coastal areas can be recovered as soon as possible.”

The Jeju Fire Festival began in 1997 as a cultural tourism festival where it sets fire on the entire volcanic cone called “Oreum” based on the fact that Jeju Island, which is a volcanic island, derives from fire.

The festival contains the value of Jeju’s old nomadic culture called “Bangae,” where people burnt down the fields to drive the cattle through the hilly fields to find quality grass for grazing animals, such as cows and horses.

The location of the event changed every year in the early period of the festival, but since 2001, it has set fire in the area around Saebyeol Volcanic Cone, Bongseong Village, Aewol-eup. Despite the short history, its reputation has been growing at home and abroad thanks to the intense impression of wildfires.

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