▲ The 57th Baekje Cultural Festival Fireworks

The 57th Baekje Cultural Festival that began on October 1 ended on October 9 after the completion of the nine-day schedule with the closing ceremony of the Shin Sang Ok Film Festival on the main stage of the Geumgang Shingwan waterside.
Although this festival lasted only 9 days, visitors’ favorable review of a “small but fruitful festival” spread by word of mouth, attracting families and group spectators.
Actually, an analysis has shown that a total of 1,494,330 spectators including 31,943 foreigners have visited this Baekje Cultural Festival, generating ripple effect of about KRW 92 billion for the local economy.
On the first day and the opening day, 203,055 spectators visited the festival sites in Gongju and Buyeo; 198,635 came on the 2nd day, and 198,116, on the 3rd day. Thus, the total number of visitors for three days up to the National Foundation Day reached 599,806. On the weekdays of the 4th ~ 7th, students and groups continued to visit in the daytime; families and couples visited in the evening, thereby increasing the number to a daily average of more than 100,000 visitors. Even the number of foreigners who visited during this period was pegged at 25,000. According to an assessment report based on comprehensive analysis by the Research Institute of Local Development at Gongju University, the visiting patterns of most of the local residents were found to be “with friends” (34.4%) or family-oriented (41.9%). In the case of family-oriented visits, the distinctive patterns were “spouse+children” (22.4%), “parents+spouse+children”(10.9%), “with spouse”(8.6%), etc.
The overall level of satisfaction with the Baekje Cultural Festival was pegged at “4.85” points in excess of the average level (4 points), followed by “I’ll recommend the Festival to others” (4.97 points) and “I’ll go to the Festival next year, too”(4.83 points); thus indicating that most of the visitors’ reactions were favorable.
The programs that interested the visitors the most were the opening ceremony, closing ceremony, Geumgang, Baekmagang pontoon bridge crossing, Woongjin Fortress parade, Kingdom of Interchange Parade. With regard to the “observation and evaluation of the programs,” the Procession of Baekje King Seong’s Transfer of the Capital to Sabi, Baekje Mimaji Masked Dance Performance, Baekje Maeul, Woongjin Fortress Parade, Review of the Greater Baekje Troops, etc., earned raves.
The firsthand experience program was deemed the most outstanding this year. The dominant motif of the firsthand experience program presented in this Festival was “Baekje,” which had the effect of differentiating the program from other Festival sites. The concurrently waged campaign to have the Baekje Historic Site Zone registered in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage of Humanity was well received.
The “Baekje Maeul” developed in Seongan Village in the Gongsan Fortress of Gongju was sufficient to arouse the curiosity of spectators, what with the village joining the excavation site of Baekje ruins.