There will be many events held at national museums and ancient palaces across the country during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. Visitors can learn about the meaning of the holiday and enjoy a range of traditional pastimes.

From February 18 to 22, performances, traditional games and movie screenings are scheduled at some of the country's national museums, including the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, Seoul. The National Museum of Korea will also stage the Bukcheong Lion Dance on February 19 and 20. The traditional folk dance has 1,500 years of history and originated in the Bukcheong region of Hamgyeongnam-do (South Hamgyeong Province), in what is now North Korea.

Through the dance, people hope to cast out demons and express their wishes for peace in their family and in their village. Every movement of the dance is delicate and exquisite, and it is considered one of the best lion dances still performed today. The performance will be held in the square in front of the museum at 3 p.m. on each day. For more information, please call 02-2077-9000 or visit the museum's homepage (www.museum.go.kr).



At the Gyeonju National Museum (http://gyeongju.museum.go.kr), people will be able to enjoy some samulnori, the traditional percussion quartet, jump roping as a group, playing the game of yut and throwing arrows into a bottle. They can also knead rice cake dough with a large wooden mallet, eat rice cake soup, drink traditional tea, kick around a shuttlecock and fry puffed rice in a large caldron, among other activities. A marionette performance will take place at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Lunar New Year's Day, February 19. The "Grasshopper and the Violin" musical, performed with traditional instruments, will be held at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on February 21. All events are free of charge.

At the Gwangju National Museum (http://gwangju.museum.go.kr) and the Jeonju National Museum (http://jeonju.museum.go.kr), visitors will also be able to enjoy the game of yut, kick around a shuttlecock, jump rope, fly a kite, drive a hoop, make woodblock prints on a paper amulet and knead rice cake dough with a large wooden mallet, among other traditional activities. Cartoon screenings for children are also scheduled every day during the holidays.

At the Daegu National Museum (http://daegu.museum.go.kr), visitors can enjoy folk games, including the seesaw, archery and driving a hoop. They can also watch samulnori and folk song performances.




The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art will offer many programs for visitors during the holidays. The "OH! Rock Concert" will be held at the museum's Seoul branch at 6:30 p.m. on February 18 and the audience can listen to the pansori narrative "Song of Simcheong" and other ballads played on traditional musical instruments.

At the museum's Gwacheon branch at 2 p.m. on February 20 and 21, Tatoo, a music group specialized in traditional music, will perform folk music and play traditional conical oboes.



Visitors to Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung palaces in Seoul, the Hyeonchungsa Shrine in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province), the Yeongneung tomb in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do (Gyeonggi Province) and the Chilbaekuichong tomb in Geumsan County, Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province) can also enjoy folk games, including the game of yut and throwing arrows into a bottle. People can try to bow on their knees toward their elders on an ondol heated floor at the Hamhwadang and Jipgyeongdang buildings at Gyeongbokgung Palace from February 18 to 20. On Lunar New Year's Day, February 19, admittance to all palaces and royal tombs will be free. Visitors can also enter the Jongjyo Shrine at their leisure without making reservations.

Visitors to the information center at the Korea Tourism Organization headquarters in downtown Seoul will be able to try on some Hanbok, traditional clothes, as well as play the game of yut, throw arrows into bottles, make a lucky pouch and stamp a folk painting from February 16 and 21. For more information, please visit its homepage (http://kto.visit.korea.or.kr).

By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
jun2@korea.kr