The National Folk Museum of Korea will entertain museum-goers with traditional programs during the Seollal Lunar New Year’s holiday. Pictured is a group of children playing the four-stick board game, yutnori.
By Kim Eun-young and Sohn JiAe
Photos = Korea.net DB
One of Korea’s biggest holiday, Seollal Lunar New Year’s, is approaching.
During the upcoming national holiday, running for four days from Feb. 15 to 18 inclusive, museums and palaces across Seoul will attract non-Korean tourists as well as residents of the capital with a series of hands-on programs that allows them experience traditional Seollal activities.
The National Folk Museum of Korea will run a program that allows museum-goers to set a charye table for ritual offerings, conduct the sebae (세배) bow to one’s elders, sample a bowl of delicious tteokguk (떡국) rice cake soup, and use some yut (윷) sticks for fortunetelling.
Traditional performances, including a gut (굿) and some farmer’s music, known as nongak (농악), will also be performed at the museum.
The National Museum of Korea will have a series of traditional shows that feature pungmul (풍물) folk music, the talchum mask dance and the lion dance. The nearby National Hangeul Museum will offer a show that mixes traditional music and dance with magic tricks.
The three museums will be open throughout the holiday, except for Friday, Feb. 16, Seollal Lunar New Year’s Day itself.
Seoul’s four major Joseon palaces and the Jongmyo Shrine are open for free during the Seollal Lunar New Year’s holiday. Pictured are visitors adorned in traditional Hanbok attire strolling through Gyeongbokgung Palace during Seollal 2015.
The four major Joseon palaces in Seoul and the Jongmyo Shrine will welcome people with no admission fee during the four-day holiday.
At the Jipgyeongdang Hall at Gyeongbokgung Palace, visitors will be able to learn how to perform a proper sebaebow and, also, feel the warmth from an ondol under-floor heating system in a traditional building on Feb. 16 and 17.
Deoksugung Palace will host traditional folk games that are enjoyed on Seollal, such as the four-stick board game, yutnori (윷놀이), the arrow-throwing tuho (투호) game and the shuttlecock game jegichagi (제기차기).
The National Folk Museum of Korea allows museum-goers to sample some delicious and hearty tteokguk (떡국) rice cake soup during the Seollal Lunar New Year’s holiday.
