July 3-7, 2024 | Chimaec Festival is one of the biggest festivals and most anticipated one held by local government of Daegu Metropolitan City. As the name suggests, it is a festival of chicken and beer (chi from chicken and maec from beer or maekju in hangul). The festival celebrates fried chicken restaurant franchise in Korea that has its roots in Daegu city.
This year’s festival was lively with fried chicken stalls from famous local brand lining up the venue and ready to serve visitors and local favorite beer brand stalls packed with buyers. At night, the festival became livelier with visitors from all over Daegu and nearby city coming with their family members or acquaintances enjoying everything in the festival.
A festival will not be completed without K-pop performances that have become integral part of the Korean culture. At Chimaec Festival this year, visitors were entertained by live performances from famous K-pop groups and artists such as Changmo, Day-Breake, and Vista. Older generation enjoyed fried chicken and drinks and spent the night chatting and catching up, while younger people indulged themselves with music, sang along with their favorite artiste, and danced to the beat.
Korean Heart-to-Heart: Experience of a Lifetime
This year, 33 Korean heart to heart (K2H) participants were invited and given the opportunities to experience the festival firsthand. They came from Germany, Philippines, China, Mongolia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Australia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and South Africa. They were welcomed by the Director General of Economic Affairs of Daegu Metropolitan City. All participants used the opportunity to also network.
This year, participants also included Moslem officers from Malaysia and Germany. They enjoyed halal fried chicken from local Indian Muslim restaurant and soda for a drink. This shows that Koreans are respectful and accommodative to their guests. This situation also created room for healthy discussion about other culture and beliefs unknown to Koreans and opportunity to attract visitors from all walks of life to the next festivals. Who knows next years’ festival might have a Muslim friendly fried chicken stall to cater to the needs of Muslim tourists and students from nearby universities.
All participants really enjoyed their time in Chimaec Festival and had a lot of fun throughout the night. The festivals will definitely become an experience of a lifetime for many K2H participants.
The article is submitted by Daegu City Government, an active member of UCLG ASPAC. K2H programme is organised by GAROK, also an active member of UCLG ASPAC, in collaboration with their member.
