▲ The SeoulTech festival 'STarry:我' that was held online due to COVID-19 in October, 2021



 

Most Korean university festivals have the name Dae Dong Festival (대동제, Dae Dong Je), or "Flower of University Days." Here the word "Dong (동, 同)" often means "one thing, together."

However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the world to fall into a more isolated situation, which made this festival term lose its meaning for over two years. The university festival was canceled or held online, so students could not gather together or enjoy the festival well. But this year, with social distancing eased, the university festival tradition could be revived.

Actually, universities in Seoul, including Hanyang University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Kyung Hee University, have held festivals offline since May, and SeoulTech as well as the Yonsei-KNU rival festival will be held in the second half of the year. In particular, our festival, Eoui Dae Dong Festival, is scheduled for September 21 to 23.

Students' expectations are high as it returns to being offline after 2019.

However, there have been various problems at university festivals every year. Thus, to make a successful university festival, we should carefully monitor the internal and external situations and prepare proper precautions for problems that can be expected.

 

The Internal Problems We Face About University Festivals

The university festivals held in the first half of the year were well-attended with big crowds and had incredible performance lineups because they had been canceled for years. However, this vitality does not always bring good things. Excessive energy sometimes causes some problems.

 

The first of these is sex offenses that take place in the crowds. According to the Herald Business article ('대학축제 인파' 속 여성 더듬은 성추행범...경찰, 수사 착수), on May 18, there was a report that a woman was sexually molested while watching a performance at Sungkyunkwan University. It was not easy to identify the criminal because the crime occurred in the midst of a large crowd.

In addition, a case of sexual harassment at the festival was posted on the university's online community. In another incident, at the Korea University festival held on May 24, a man who illegally photographed a woman was arrested.

 

Next, ticket touting has caused a problem with festival performances. Most university festivals have performances by invited celebrities, and the fact that people can enjoy them for free comes as a great benefit. Therefore, the more spectacular the performance lineup is, the larger the crowd of attendees from outside the university flock. A university's student council, which handles such a large crowd, provides students with preferential policies that differentiate them from outsiders, such as different admission times or seats in an enrolled student zone. However, at some point, the purpose of this preferential treatment began to blur. The university festival provided benefits for enrolled students, but some students used these perks for other purposes. Most universities that implement preferential treatment policies for their students go through a certification process to distinguish between students and outsiders, mostly using student ID cards. Taking advantage of this, students created a student ID ticket touting transaction, in which students lend their ID cards in exchange for money. The more impressive the lineup is, the more crowds flock, and the higher the value of an ID card is. The price range is very wide, ranging from a minimum of 10,000 KRW to a few hundred thousand KRW. Due to this problem, some criticize that the university festival is not just a university festival, but also an opportunity to communicate with the local community, and excessive student-centeredness causes problems.

In response, there is also a counterargument that the center of excessive students is not good, but as it is a university festival, the focus should be students.

 

The problems mentioned above are actually not new problems this year. Moreover, various problems like noise and safety occur at every festival. Most of them have been controversial before. Therefore, we need to consider what kind of countermeasures there are before holding the SeoulTech festival to prevent these issues.

 

As We Approach the Festival Date, What Is Happening with COVID-19?

While preparing for the upcoming festival at SeoulTech, we need to consider the recurrence of COVID-19. First of all, the pandemic, which was thought to have ended, is emerging as a social issue again. This shows that the endemic nature of COVID-19 cannot be ignored in planning the festival. Endemic means the phenomenon that epidemics are periodically prevalent in certain areas. Two years after the spread of COVID-19, the endemic phenomenon can be seen due to the resurgence of COVID-19 this summer. On August 16, the number of new confirmed cases exceeded 180,000, with the largest number in the past 30 days. Also, on August 31, the largest number of deaths in Korea occurred at 112 people. In addition, as the weather gets colder, the flu is also prevalent along with COVID-19, taking the form of a twindemic that means two infectious diseases are prevalent at the same time. As a result, the government is currently discussing how to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in advance. The 38th ST'art Student Council also needs to prepare thorough countermeasures against the risk of infection as they promote face-to-face events.

 

What Kind of Effort Is SeoulTech Making to Hold the Festival Successfully?

The 38th Student Council is trying hard for a successful festival in many areas. Regarding the COVID-19 response, it will closely observe the progress of COVID-19 confirmed cases in Korea and prepare quarantine measures in accordance with the government guidelines. In addition, through the support of the Student Welfare Committee, a special inspection team, which is staffed by students, will be established.

The special inspection team will be in charge of overall operation and management on the day of the festival, including stage safety and crowd control, so that students can participate in the festival together without any trouble.

The SeoulTech University Festival, which runs from September 21 to 23, will be held face-toface. Moreover, events that students themselves can participate in, such as a college music festival and charity in the yard, were also closed to recruiting applicants in the last week of August.

The charity in the yard is a project to plan and operate contents for students to enjoy the festival by installing a booth in Hyanghak Street during the SeoulTech Festival. In the booth, students can play games, create DIY products, and hold a campaign. Except for these, many other events are being prepared for a successful university festival. As the 38th ST'art Student Council safely oversaw the sports day which recently returned after 2019, we hope that the festival will also be held safely and students will be able to enjoy it.

At the 38th Student Council election pledge meeting, the 38th ST'art Student Council said that since the festival will be held face-to-face, they will encourage students to participate directly in planning the festival. Above all, it is expected that many students are looking forward to the festival because it is the first time it has been held offline in a long time. As the Student Council said, it is necessary to plan a festival that everyone can enjoy by listening to students and actively accepting opinions. The most important thing is to properly deal with the issues that have been a problem at the university festival so far. In addition, considering the situation where COVID-19 is breaking out again, efforts should be made for festivals that can be safe from COVID-19, and students should also consider their health and follow personal quarantine rules well. We hope that the efforts of both sides will have synergy so that everyone can enjoy the revival of the SeoulTech University Festival.



 

Reporter,

Gayeon Han hgy1228@seoultech.ac.kr

Yoojin Park dreamingloveyoo@seoultech.ac.kr