National Folk Museum celebrates first full moon of the year with traditional festival
![A traditional game of jwibulnori, in which people spin a can filled with burning charcoal, can be played this year at the National Folk Museum of Korea. [NATIONAL FOLK MUSEUM OF KOREA]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/02/03/aa600152-5e11-4ef2-bce6-52719d91b185.jpg)
A traditional game of jwibulnori, in which people spin a can filled with burning charcoal, can be played this year at the National Folk Museum of Korea. [NATIONAL FOLK MUSEUM OF KOREA]
The National Folk Museum of Korea in central Seoul is continuing the celebrations of Jeongwol Daeboreum, the day of the first full moon on the lunar calendar, throughout this weekend with a series of programs.
This year's Jeongwol Daeboreum falls on Feb. 5, which is Jan. 15 on the lunar calendar.
On Saturday, visitors can participate in events such as songpa daribalbi, which is a performance on top of a bridge originally done in Songpa District, southern Seoul, that is said to drive away bad spirits and keep the legs healthy. Dari is a homonym for “bridge” and “leg” in Korean. The event starts at 2 p.m.
On Sunday at 11 a.m. is the byeotgaritdae seugi, a Jeongwol Daeboreum custom to wish for a good harvest and happiness during which poles filled with grain are erected.
At 1:30 p.m. is the juldarigi, or traditional Korean tug-of-war, held on the front yard of the museum.
An ongoing program for the two-day celebration includes a small exhibition in the museum’s lobby that showcases food traditionally eaten during the Jeongwol Daeboreum holiday. Korean ancestors said that eating bureom, or nuts, and drinking cold rice wine known as guibargi, were good luck for the welfare and abundance of the village.
Visitors are also able to play traditional children’s games, like flying kites, jwibulnori, or a game that people play by spinning a can filled with burning charcoal, yutnori, or a board game using four wooden sticks, and paengi-chigi, or top-spinning.
Only the juldarigi requires reservations, which can be made via the musem’s website. There will be no accompanying English services. All programs are for free.
BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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