The Hi Seoul Festival (link goes to official website) – recently changed from an annual event to a once-a-season event – recently started the summer festival in the Yeoinaru area – one of my favorite areas in the Seoul area.

According to the organizers, “The Hi Seoul Festival aims to spark a renaissance of the Hangang in the truest sense by helping people realize that the Hangang [Han is the name of the river, while gang is Korean for river] is a natural space for festival, culture, and life for the citizenry to enjoy. The Hangang – a wellspring of nature concealed behind industrialization – is being revitalized as a cultural space with the power of healing and a source of renewed vitality for city life.”

I can’t speak on the ‘power of healing’ – a rather ironic statement considering the Han river is fairly polluted – but ‘renewed vitality’ I can agree with. Even without a festival to attend, the Yeouinaru area remains one of the best places in Seoul to see the Han river up close and personal, take a date, walk, or even rent a bike for about 3,000 won an hour (about $3). Try the bicycles built for two (about 6,000 won or $6/hour) if you’re interested or on a date.

I arrived in the afternoon, fully intending to see as much of the whimsical festival as had been promised. I found myself walking around during the ‘in-between’ lull – that lull after the daytime events ended and the evening events began. I ended up seeing most of the events taking place instead of getting to participate in them – the Hangang Canoe Festival (paddle a canoe by yourself after 15 minutes worth of instruction), the Hangang Birdman Contest (similar in nature to the Flugtag – make a human-powered flying machine, usually accomplished over a body of water. In this case, one could create a flying machine, or simply sign up to dive into the Han river), a Water / Ice park (yes, you read that right – ice – in the middle of August).

These were merely the main events intended to give someone a reason to come. As I approached the main area I could hear the sweet sounds of a live jazz band, performing on a fully-equipped sound / light stage. Along the way I passed by quite a few open tents, mainly there to give the crowd a place to sit down or relax under the shade. With a 30+ degree day (Celsius, of course – that’s over 86 degrees F.) and 70%-80% humidity you’ll take all the shade you can get.

After arriving via subway, one of the first things I saw was a ‘free beer sample’ truck similar to that at the World Cup Stadium. The line to the left was for a decent-sized cup of Max beer (all the Korean beers taste the same to me), while the line on the right led to this:

Throw the magnetic dart and hit the circles for a can of (warm) beer.

OK, moving on to the real sights of the Hi Seoul Festival – first up was the aforementioned Hangang Canoe Festival:

After 15 minutes of instruction, one could jump in the canoe and paddle within a sizable area of the river. The black boats you see are the rescue / lifeguard boats, making sure hapless canoers don’t get too far out.

A ‘dragon boat’ race; if you’re so inclined, you could be part of one of 150 teams that would race in these boats. The person in the front of the boat beats a traditional-looking drum, which is supposed to guide the rowers into a steady pattern, making movements more synchronized and more efficient. What really happened was the guy pictured thought, ‘oooh cool, I’m gonna beat on the drums as loud and as many times as I can!’

Presenting the Zorb experience – a giant inflatable ball big enough for you to get inside. You could sign up for get inside one of these balls and literally walk – er, rather run – on water. By the time I tried to sign up, all the times were taken until 11am the next day…

The 1st annual Birdman contest – the platform leads to an 8 meter drop into the Han river if your craft is unsuccessful. If your human-powered machine made it across the 1.6 km wide Han river, your prize / bonus would be 100,000,000 won (about $100,000).

Of course, not everyone that participated built a craft. Unlike the aforementioned Flugtag, any person or group could get together and simply dive into the Han river in grandiose fashion as they wanted to. The group above – all non-Koreans with one exception – got a fair share of Korean media / press attention.

One of the hang-gliders presumably used to advertise for the ‘make-your-own-craft-and-try-to-fly-it’ crowd. No word if you could use that one for your flight, though.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all… Balls. Big balls – 2.5 meters tall (about 8 feet) – but very light. An adult could pretty easily pick one up, as they were simply balloons covered in a cloth. About 15-20 balls / balloons were being rolled around a large grassy field near the stage and the rest of the action.

Welcome to what was left of the Water / Ice park – one of those areas that was already complete before I arrived in the late afternoon. Some of the artificially made snow – yes, I said snow – remained on the ground, although it was quickly melting into the grass. The beautiful ice sculpture wasn’t faring much better in the middle of a hot summer.

The live jazz music – usually playing in the background amidst everything else happening. They sang entirely in English and had an extensive repertoire – for the almost 3 hours I was within earshot I didn’t hear a song repeated.

OK, Chris, why oh why are you taking pictures of the portable bathrooms?!  Simple – apparently men are wolves and women are butterflies. OK, back to your regularly scheduled blog.

Some beautifully colored kites flying and bouncing up and down about 10 meters (30 feet) in the air. Not pictured are some weights people could pull on to make the kites bounce around.

Some of the ‘whimsical’ stuff I promised – a giant helium-filled balloon with what looks like fish heads on either end.

Another large helium-filled balloon.. I’ll let you make up your own interpretations on this one.

Repeat after me: this is a fish! Or at least I think it’s supposed to be.

About this point in the day (around 6pm) it was time to get a drink and snack, then settle down for the beginning of the evening festivities.

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting a Korean military band. Their performance started off with what sounded like classic Korean patriotic numbers. Before long, however, they had made their way into more familiar territory for yours truly…

As the evening set in, the Hangang Fantasy Festival opened with one of the previously seen balloons holding a lady, back-flipping and spinning while floating a ribbon several meters above the air.

A group called Noridan – an ecological musical performance which made ‘music’ using recycled things like industrial pipes. Um, ok – a little bizarre, but still interesting.

The beginnings of the Shenzo’s Electric Stunt Orchestra. Nowhere in the world have you ever seen a flying stunt orchestra. Their trapezes would take them maybe 15 meters (45 feet) in the air and back down again – all the while playing their instrument.

The violinist and electric guitar. Not pictured was a second electric guitar and a drummer, which did not fly (I’m guessing the drums aren’t as portable). All in all, this evening was looking to be a great night of entertainment…

And then the rains came. What started as a drizzle about 30 seconds into their first song turned into a steady soaking rain by the end. The musicians, to their credit, were professionals and finished their first (and only) song. A brave group of volunteers began passing out ponchos for the crowd – mostly unprepared for a sudden rainstorm.

After a few minutes, the organizer came out on stage and said that after a short delay, the performance would continue – albeit ‘at great risk to the performers’. A few minutes later, he came out again and said that due to some technical difficulties their portion of the show would have to be cancelled for the night. He made a funny comment about how ‘this is the rain that has fed the Han river for 5,000 years’ – he has a point, but still…

–

The vast majority of the crowd, dressed in ponchos, stuck around to see what the evening would bring. Literally 90% of the people stayed through a soaking (but brief) rainstorm – we couldn’t have moved in for a better seat even if we wanted to.

Finally, the next show was ready – a Monster Ballet. A mixture of Korean music, classical ballet, and multi-ton construction equipment definitely isn’t something you’ll see everyday. If you can, try to picture the ballet through its four acts (quoted from the official Hi Seoul Festival booklet):

Act 1: Conveys the tragic image of humans conquered by machines.
Act 2: Festival of the machines. The king of the machines and the king’s power are symbolized by the movements of the large machineries.
Act 3: A goddess of beauty, in human form, appears and dances alone to express beauty. The machines steadily assimilate to the beautiful movements of the goddess of beauty.
Act 4: The machines surrender to the bauty pursued by mankind. The machines, which are viewed as violent, barbaric, and unemotional, come together with man in movement to express the magnificence of the power of beauty.

Of course, there are pictures – enjoy them and try to imagine the scene…

Here’s a video from act one:

After the wonderful ballet and curtain call, the organizer regretfully informed us that their sound board was completely shot due to the rain, and the last musical performance would be a solo acapella singer (as opposed to having the backing of her band). She performed a few songs in Korean, which most of the crowd seemed to know the words to. Before long, however, the crowd was finding their way to the subway or bus station. A night deferred for some, while for others the night cut short still held a wonderful experience that won’t soon be forgotten.