Osan City: "Enjoy Lunar New Year's First Full Moon Celebration Safely"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Osan City is proceeding with non-contact events on the 26th for the Lunar New Year's First Full Moon celebration (Daeboreum) of 2021, the Year of the Ox, to provide citizens with an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of this seasonal festival while preventing the spread of COVID-19.

The 15th day of the first lunar month, which marks the first full moon of the year and is when the full moon rises, is known as Daeboreum—a traditional Korean holiday celebrated as significantly as Lunar New Year. Traditionally, diverse folk games and seasonal customs are enjoyed on this day. During this celebration, citizens eat ritual foods including sweet rice cakes, five-grain rice, seasoned vegetables, fortune wraps, cracked nuts, and special rice wine to maintain family health, pray for abundant harvests throughout the year, and perform various fortune-telling rituals and warding-off-evil customs.

The city has annually held, under the auspices of the Osan Cultural Center, various folk events and performances including ground-stamping dances and lion dances, as well as folk games such as burning moon houses and rat fire play on the largest scale in the metropolitan region. However, when the COVID-19 virus spread in January last year, the Lunar New Year's First Full Moon events were completely cancelled. Subsequently, all festivals and cultural events were either held in non-contact format or cancelled.

In response, the Osan Cultural Center designated the Daeboreum week (February 22-27, six days) and opened a self-viewing exhibition hall for Daeboreum and seasonal customs self-directed learning experience centers. In particular, the Daeboreum exhibition and experience hall, befitting Osan as an educational city and cultural city where tradition and history are alive, displays stories of seasonal customs related to Lunar New Year's First Full Moon, photographs of Osan City's Daeboreum events, and historical photos. It also features experiential learning corners for cracking nuts, decorating lucky dustpans, and writing wish cards to ward off evil and wish for hopes for the new year, allowing all citizens to freely view and participate.

On the 27th, the city will conduct a non-contact moon house burning event, praying for the end of COVID-19, the development of Osan City, and the health and well-being of citizens, with all Osan residents sharing the experience through YouTube online video.

Jung Jin-heung, director of the Osan Cultural Center, the host organization of the event, stated, "We want to provide citizens who were disappointed about not celebrating the Lunar New Year holidays with a festive atmosphere last time with various seasonal customs experiences and the joy of traditional celebrations full of memories."

Meanwhile, the Lunar New Year's First Full Moon exhibition and experience hall established in Osan City Hall will operate until the 27th, and on the evening of the 27th, a non-contact moon house burning event will be held alongside citizens' wish cards.