I’ve always admired those who can celebrate and be joyful when their loved ones have passed away. I suppose that’s why I enjoyed experiencing the Taegi Cultural Festival. It is aimed at preserving a somewhat lively tradition of singing and dancing on a person’s grave when they are buried.

Ceremony participant taking a rest

The Taegi Cultural Festival is held in Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon Province in April. The song and dance performed there is called the Hoengseong Hoedajisori (횡성 회다지소리), and it won the President’s Award at the National Folk Art Competition in 1984 and was designated as a Gangwon Province Intangible Cultural Asset.

Ceremony Paricipant

Finding the festival grounds was not an easy task. As soon as I got off the bus in Hoengseong-gun I began asking Koreans for directions. Several brief discussions later I happened to get lucky and bump into a Korean man who was also having trouble finding the festival grounds. The kind man offered to take me in his car along with his wife and kid, and I gladly accepted.

The ceremony leader

Upon arriving at the festival grounds I was introduced to some local professors who would be the judges for the Hoedajisori singing competition. They in turn introduced me to the head teacher of Hoedajisori before the ceremonies began. He was a big man with a big belly and a big beard. He’s the guy in my photos who is standing on the front end of what I assume to be a coffin carrying apparatus. The big man’s job during the procession was to repeatedly ring a bell while leading the others in a somber chant.

rossing over

There were a number of people in the procession. There were flag bearers in the front, followed by a couple of guys carrying a decorated box. Right behind them were two masked dancers who were swinging swords in an artful way. Then came the large coffin carrying apparatus. Thirty-six men shouldered the weight of the apparatus, one large man standing on the front, and a small man standing on the back.

Crossing over

The procession started about 100 meters down the road from the festival grounds. Once it reached the festival grounds, there was a raised platform of which the men carried the apparatus over. In order to do this, they had to alter their positions so that they walked in rows of two rather than in rows of four as they had been doing while walking to the festival grounds. They did so without any problems whatsoever. Each step was choreographed by the rhythm of the chants they were singing all the while.

Crossing over

Once the group passed over the platform, they set the apparatus down and moved to the center of the festival grounds to perform the Hoedajisori song and dance on a fake grave. Six men holding staffs stood inside a hole in the ground that represented the grave. The leader of the group and some others stood outside of the grave. What followed for the next 10 minutes or so was a lighthearted and fun, yet somehow still somber song and dance done in honor of the deceased.

Hoedajisori (회다지소리)

Following the main performance, six other groups performed their version of the Hoedajisori as part of a competition. While these groups were performing, I ate some delicious food and drank copious amounts of Korean rice wine with various Koreans who wanted to do the same.

Hoedajisori (회다지소리)

Sitting at my desk and looking back, I can say that the Taegi Cultural Festival in Gangwon Province is one of the best cultural festivals I’ve been to in Korea. I think this because I really enjoy Korean folk song and dance. If you are interested in Korean folk song and dance too, you will enjoy this festival.

Resources
Hoengseong County
Hoengseong County (Wikipedia)

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