Political Utilization of Festivals: A Case Study of the 'Hi! Seoul Festival' in Seoul City, Korea

Abstract

This study aims to clarify the political utilization of festivals with a case study of Seouls''Hi! Seoul Festival (HSF)'. HSF is a famous festival in Seoul and it was established in 2003. The trigger for its development was the FIFA World Cup 2002. The entire city is used as a festival stage and the places where events are hold change every year. If we examine the places where events are hold, we can find a close relation with the policies of the mayor of Seoul. Also, as a result of the political meaning assigned to it by the mayor, HSF became established as a famous festival in Seoul City only eight years after it was created. HSF has been utilized as a means to emphasize successful urban politics, as the main event always changed to locations where the past mayor in Seoul realized campaign promises. Also, the political intention to change the event location of HSF was clarified as part of Seoul City's strategy to attract tourists. Specifically, from 2003 through 2006 the main event venue was the "plaza in the center of a city". However, between 2007 and 2010, the location changed to the "Han River" and "Five Palaces". In addition, not only was the main event venue changed, but also many event programs were concentrated along the "Han River" because the new Seoul mayor aimed to realize his campaign promises. As a result, visitor numbers were highest around the "Han River". However, our survey showed that visitors came to the HSF with a single purpose, such as recreation. Also, people who visited the "plaza in the center of a city" gave higher evaluation of HSF than those who visited the "Han River", so there is clearly a perception gap between the administration and tourists. In other words, our research clarified that people who visited HSF in 2010 didn't realize the administration's political intentions.