An opening ceremony, photo exhibition and hands-on farming activities are set for Monday at the Jungnang Happy Urban Agriculture Center, with a small outdoor concert and smart-farm experiences to follow Tuesday at Sagajeong Station Village Square
Jungnang-gu will hold the inaugural Jungnang Urban Agriculture Festival over two days Monday and Tuesday at the Jungnang Happy Urban Agriculture Center and Sagajeong Station Village Square.
The first-ever edition of the festival was organized to raise residents' awareness of urban farming and to bring together urban farmers and the wider community to share the value of agriculture.
An opening ceremony will run from 10 a.m. to noon Monday at Cheongnam Park Plaza inside the Jungnang Happy Urban Agriculture Center. The program opens with a pre-ceremony performance by Jungnang Artists, followed by an awards ceremony for a photo competition titled "Urban Farmer Stories Through the Lens" and an opening performance. The lawn area will feature an exhibition of prize-winning photos, urban agriculture success stories and outstanding crops. A promotional tasting event will also be held for Meokgol Cheongsil Bae, Jungnang-gu's signature local pear brand.
Special urban agriculture lectures will cover flower arranging and making traditional Korean rice snacks using domestic rice. A total of 13 hands-on programs will also be available, including mini moss terrarium making, repotting houseplants, carving jangseung totem poles and dyeing handkerchiefs with natural herb extracts. Participants can register in advance on a first-come, first-served basis through the Jungnang Happy Urban Agriculture Center website, with on-site registration also available. Some programs carry a materials fee; full schedules and registration details are available on the center's website.
From 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sagajeong Station Village Square will host a small urban agriculture concert. Following a pre-show performance by the top prize winner of the Jangmi Song Festival, trot singers Jin Gwang and Yun Ye-won will take the stage alongside Romance Dun, a four-member fusion jazz ensemble, performing across a range of musical genres.
On-site exhibition and hands-on programs will also be offered by Chaegawon, an urban agriculture department store, and a companion-plant healing horticulture center. Visitors can explore future farming technology through smart-farm app demonstrations, robot car seedling planting, hydroponic cultivators, compact smart farms and aquaponics underwater terrariums.
"I hope this festival becomes a place where residents who love urban agriculture in Jungnang-gu can come together and share the joy and value of urban farming," Jungnang-gu District Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi said. "We will continue to develop diverse programs so that residents can easily and comfortably engage with urban agriculture in their daily lives, and we will work hard to promote its growth."
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