Gwanak-gu hosts Family Dream & JOB Festival

Gwanak-gu held a festival at the district office plaza on Saturday, giving children a meaningful opportunity to explore their dreams through hands-on experiences and connect with their families.

The Gwanak-gu Family Dream & JOB Festival, organized this year for the first time in partnership with the Gwanak-gu Comprehensive Childcare Support Center, is a play and career-exploration event for children aged 7 and under and their families.

The "Kidzania Career Experience Zone" drew an enthusiastic response from young children and their families, running booths tailored to toddlers' developmental levels where they could try out careers ranging from veterinarian and flight attendant to magician.

A "Community Partner Zone" also proved popular, offering health and safety activities in collaboration with local institutions including the Gwanak Police Station, a community health clinic, the Gwanak Fire Station and a volunteer fire brigade.

The festival also featured a range of hands-on spaces, including a toddler activity zone called "Kkumteul Playground" where children could build creativity and environmental awareness through play using recycled materials.

At that zone, families could play freely together using everyday recyclable items — bottle caps, plastic bottles and discarded banners — naturally instilling an appreciation for resource circulation.

The festival gave children a chance to explore a variety of careers and activities while organically nurturing their aspirations, and offered parents an opportunity to discover their children's interests and strengths while spending quality time together.

The district plans to build on the event to further strengthen a cooperative network among local institutions in areas such as healthcare and safety, supporting the healthy growth and upbringing of young children in the community.

Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee said the event was "a family festival designed to let children nurture their dreams through play and hands-on experiences, and to help parents and children communicate and create special memories together." He added that the district would "do its utmost to work closely with a wide range of community organizations, centered on the Comprehensive Childcare Support Center, to build a Gwanak-gu where children can grow up healthy and happy and parents can raise their children with peace of mind."