As the Traditional Dano Festival, Koreas third largest traditional festivals, falls on Tuesday (June 19), various related events are scheduled nationwide.
Designated by UNESCO as an intangible cultural asset in 2005, Dano, also called Surinal in Korean, falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. The oldest Korean holiday marks the beginning of the summer and is a day to pray for favorable weather for farming.
Among the Dano festivals across Korea, Gangneungs in Gangwon-do (Province) has the most festive mood through its five-day festival from June 17 to 24. Residents and visitors celebrate with a variety of traditional games and music.
In Gangneungs Traditional Dano Festival 2007, visitors can enjoy various traditional activities associated with Dano: riding swings and hair washing for women and ssireum (wrestling) and mask dancing for men.
In the past, young people used to wash their hair in changpo water boiled with sweet iris leaves. The traditional food for Dano is a rice cake made with various herbs.
Uljin and Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do (North Gyeongsang Province), also hold Dano festivals from Tuesday where ssireum, yut and a tug of war are planned. In Pohang, fan makers will offer hand-made traditional fans, according to the Dano custom of the King offereing fans to his retainers on that day.
Meanwhile, along Seouls Cheonggyecheon, visitors can take part in folk games; practice traditional customs, including ssireum; and ride in old-fashioned carriages.
Namsangol, a neighborhood with many Hanok, or traditional house, held the Seoul Dano Folk Festival 2007 from June 15 to 16. Those who visited enjoyed gilnori (street dancing), bongsantalchum (a mask dance drama), samulnori, rope dancing, ssireum, and taekkyon. They also experienced hair washing in changpo water, making changpo hairpins and nail polishing with balsam flower.
On Jeju-do, Koreas largest island, parents as well as children enjoyed Dano-related customs, like making charms to get rid of evil spirits; making traditional fans and bracelets with threads from the five main traditional colors; and wishing one another a long, healthy life.
Not only Koreans, but also Londoners experienced Koreas Dano spirit. On Sunday, cheongsachorong, red and blue traditional Korean lanterns, were held in the center of Trafalgar Square, where Korean dancers pered a traditional drum dance. Korean B-boys, young break-dancers, also staged a dance perance with Biritish teenagers to capture tourists eyes, while taekwondo demonstration and samulnori perance were held.
Dano became the nations third UNESCO-recognized intangible cultural heritage, following Jongmyo Jerye, the royal ancestral rites and music pered during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), and Pansori, a traditional one-man opera. The two were designated in 2001 and 2003, respectively.
