"Dosan-daero to Become a Festival Stage": Actor Park Sang-won, Chair of the Gangnam Festival Organizing Committee

[Financial News] Actor Park Sang-won's stage is not limited to theaters. As chairman of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture (SFAC), he has led Seoul's cultural and artistic scene. Since last year, he has also taken on another role as co-chair of the Gangnam Festival organizing committee. This is his second year in the position. While remaining active as an actor, professor and photographer, he has also expanded his activities to include serving as a 'planner' who connects culture and the arts with the city.
In a recent interview, Park said, "Theater and city festivals have more in common than people might think. Just as a play creates a single scene only when the stage and lighting, music, actors and audience's breathing are all connected, the same is true of a city festival. The only difference is that the stage is much larger."
That enormous stage will unfold across Gangnam from Oct. 3 to 5. The Gangnam Festival, now in its 15th year, will expand beyond its traditional venue on Yeongdong-daero to the areas around Apgujeong-ro and Dosan-daero. In particular, on Oct. 3, the first large-scale grand parade involving residents from 22 neighborhoods will take place along an approximately 2-kilometer stretch of Dosan-daero.
The parade is the project Park has worked especially hard on. When he became organizing committee chair last year, he proposed the parade but shelved the idea after deciding that it was "not something that could be done with just one year of preparation." In effect, he has been preparing for it for two years. The scene he envisions is quite specific.
Park emphasized, "The traffic signals, sounds of car horns and smell of exhaust will disappear from the 10-lane Dosan-daero, which has never stopped even once since Gangnam-gu was established. Instead, it will become a street filled with music, the smell of chicken, fashion shows, electronic dance music (EDM), dancing and cheers."
He explained that the event is different from simply closing a road and holding a large concert. Rather than merely bringing in famous singers to draw an audience, he wants to create a structure in which citizens, businesses and the local commercial district jointly make the festival. Residents from all 22 neighborhoods in Gangnam will take part directly in this year's parade.
Park said, "No matter how much money is spent or how impressive the performers are, the memories of a festival where people merely watch and leave cannot be the same as those of a festival they participated in themselves. Experts will create the Gangnam Festival, but citizens and audiences will complete it."
His experience as chairman of SFAC is also naturally being incorporated into the Gangnam Festival. At the foundation, he has played an active role in visiting cultural and artistic sites in person and bringing people together. He considers inviting foreign diplomatic envoys to Seoul's cultural events and connecting figures in the arts to be part of his responsibilities. He is applying the same approach to the Gangnam Festival by actively inviting foreign ambassadors and executives from global companies this year.
Park stated, "Gangnam is already a name known around the world, so it should aim for global standards. The city and its citizens, artists, businesses and local commercial districts need to move together, and we must create a structure in which content remains after the festival ends and is consumed again."
That is why he is also attending to what happens after the festival ends. Last year, he personally planned an archival book documenting the Gangnam Festival's process. He believes it is also his responsibility to leave behind materials showing how the festival has evolved for the sake of its future.
Park said, "Just as New York has the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I hope that one day people will say, 'If you go to Seoul in October, you have to see the Gangnam Parade.' This year will be the first year of that long journey."
Park is looking forward to the moment when people stand in the middle of Dosan-daero and look at the city.
He concluded, "It means children and parents walking in a place they normally just pass through in a car, residents holding a parade, young people dancing, and foreigners and Gangnam residents sharing the same scene. I hope people will feel then, 'So this is also possible in Gangnam.'"
[email protected] Lee Seol-young Reporter