Dano in Beopseongpo, Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, has been repeated at the same waterside for 500 years. The Beopseongpo Dano Festival, which carries the old name Hwajopungak (花鳥風樂), colors the early-summer port with high spirits and style. It is the Dano of a southern port listed as a National Intangible Heritage.
The frame of the festival is ritual. The Inui Rite is a procedure honoring the benevolence and righteousness the village has kept, and the Dragon King Rite is a procedure praying toward the sea for safety and abundance. When the two rites end, the Nanjang Opening begins. It is a time when the market and the playing ground are set up at once, so the narrow roads of the port fill with people.
From the mudflats at low tide a salt smell rises, and the nets hung at the wharf dry in the sun and give off their brine. The yellow color of water boiled with sweet flag and the grain of old wooden posts mix into that smell. The feel of the festival stays at the port even after the stage lights go out.
Old festivals waver between preserving the original form and drawing an audience. Rites with their order tidied up for the audience become easier to watch, but the rhythm the villagers have learned by heart through their bodies wears down little by little. The strength that has let Beopseongpo hold on for 500 years lies with the people who remember that rhythm rather than with the stage equipment.
So this festival is closer to a time when the local community confirms itself. The hands that set the ritual table, the hands that ladle out gukbap at the nanjang, and the hands that grip the gong all come from the same village. That is why the tradition does not stay as an object of preservation but continues within the residents' lives.
This year's detailed schedule and fees will be announced later. Even for those who cannot time their visit to the festival period, the waterways and alleys of Beopseongpo are open in all seasons. The look of the port changes greatly with the tide, so it is better to check the time the seawater comes in and plan your steps.
Dano is the season just before the year's daylight grows longest. The people of Beopseongpo bow to their ancestors under that sunlight, and then go out to the yard and play. It is the character of this festival that rite and play follow one another within a single day. The Inui Rite, the Dragon King Rite and the Nanjang Opening make up that order.
Event Information
Event: Beopseongpo Dano Festival (Hwajopungak)
Place: Beopseongpo area, Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do
Designation: National Intangible Heritage
Main programs: Inui Rite, Dragon King Rite, Nanjang Opening
