▲ The 4th Foreigners’ Festival

On September 14th, 2014, “the 4th Foreigners’ Festival” was held at the Munseong Community Service Center of Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do. Chungcheongnam-do and Cheonan City hosted the festival together. The Cheonan Support Center for Foreign Workers presided it.

The festival has been held since 2011 for foreign workers and foreigners who live in Chungnam as residents in order to boost their morale and solidarity as members of a social community.

Governor An, Superintendent Jicheol Kim, some members of the National Assembly, and ambassadors from four different countries (Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, and Nepal) attended the festival.

In his speech, Governor An said, “Our world in the 21st century can be described as one village since countries’ national economics have become more mututally dependent than ever.” He further added that, “Chungnam in particular cannot treat the foreign workers’ heartfelt efforts lightly.”

The opening ceremony and main events came after the congratulatory messages. In the opening ceremony, people ran all kinds of information booths. For instance, there were consular service information booth, tradition and culture promotion booths (all of which represented each country), exhibition booths where attendees could obtain information about organizations for foreigners, and food zones where people could experience different countries’ foods.

The ceremony had various enjoyable performances, including a performance from a band formed by foreign workers, NANTA performance of multicultural center, and dance performances by the dance club of Korea Nazareth University.

It was a large celebration enjoyed by attendees, professional singers and a multicultural performance team named “Mongttang.” Enjoying the Foreigner Festival as a group, it is expected that participants can learn to embrace foreigners as neighbors and to cultivate mature levels of civic awareness.