The Andong Maskdance Festival is primed to become one of the classic Hallyu (Korean Wave) festivals as it comes up with programs combining the tradition of ancient Korean mask dances and the modernity of reenacting the modern-day universality of the mask.

The Andong Maskdance Festival made its debut on Oct. 1, 1997, based on the 800-year-old Hahoebyolsinguktalnori of the Hahoe Village, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Amid active support from Andong citizens, it has gone from strength to strength to become the nation’ s top-rated festival °™  as designated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2002 °™  and has since grown into the most competitive of the 2,000 festivals across the nation. 

The Andong Maskdance Festival has now gained a reputation globally, with foreign maskdance troupes from a total of 111 countries performing during the 11 previous runs, and Andong has served as a center of global maskdance culture by serving as the venue of the inaugural meeting of the International Mask Arts & Culture Organization (IMACO) on Sept. 27, 2006, and by maintaining a treasure trove of 2,500 masks from 25 countries. 

In particular, a survey of 100-odd travel blogs from Google.com and Yahoo.com showed that many of them covered the Andong Maskdance Festival. A report on foreigners’  awareness of Korean festivals, released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, indicated that 26.2 percent of the respondents said they were aware of the Andong Maskdance Festival, topping the list of foreigners’  attention. Information about the festival has been spread by word of mouth. Among maskdance aficionados quoted in the report were Jo Ann St. Pierre, who tours Andong and appreciates maskdances every year, following information she found about the festival via the Lonely Planet travel website, and Cedar B. Saej, who has been fascinated by the maskdances of the festival and ended up marrying a maskdance festival planner. 

The Andong Festival Tourism Foundation has come up with an ambitious plan to promote the Andong Maskdance Festival, riding the momentum of Hallyu, as a “K-Festival,” one that is full of exhilaration and excitement with people from around the globe mingling and performing maskdances. 

First, the foundation plans to make the festival one that is communicable and familiar to people around the world. The Andong Maskdance Festival will offer diverse performances for all ages, ranging from the traditional maskdances that were critical of the malpractices of a traditional society in ancient times to modern-day maskdances cynical of environmental issues and egoism, and fusion performances combining exciting music, ballet, B-boy performances, and maskdances. 

Secondly, the plan calls for making the most of the universality of the mask and creativity to make the festival an excellent, general festival. The mask is a globally-common cultural item °™ it’ s universal. Many festivals around the world use the mask °™ Korea is no exception. The mask prevailed not just in Korea’ s traditional, ancient society, but it is reproduced in cartoons, movies, and other genres. Imagine the so-called action masks of cartoon hero “Jjanggu,” or Superman, Batman, or Spiderman.

The main performance stage of the 2011 Andong Maskdance Festival was the venue for the performance of not just traditional Korean maskdances, but also diverse modern-day ones. It served as an experiment to test the uses of masks to cover a performer’ s whole body.

Thirdly, the plan calls for turning it into a regional festival, allowing it to become what regional residents make of it. There is little wonder about how the Andong Maskdance Festival has been held on its own without outside help since its debut 16 years ago. 

Andong, a provincial medium-sized city with a population of 170,000, has managed to organize the event with its neighborhood manpower and hardware companies. Performance manpower has built a solid foundation based on the experiences and expertise it has accumulated over the years by making the most of university, dance, and cultural troupes in the region. Organizers have successfully produced 24 masks based on the storylines they have explored while visiting each village, and developed on its own the festival’ s official dance, “La La La Dance,” based on the maskdance of the Hahoebyolsinguktalnori. 

Andong is a center of Confucian culture, inheriting the lifestyle and spirit of old-time scholars with a taste for literature and the arts. A city with the tradition of classical scholars’  study, Andong has Korea’ s spiritual and cultural roots, boasting such major tourist attractions as the Dosan Confucian School, Nongunjeongsa Temple, Hahoe Folk Village, and the Korean Studies Advancement Center.

Fourthly, this year’ s festival will take place for a 10-day run from Sept. 28-Oct. 7 under the theme, “The Festival of Adorable Devils.” True to the theme, the 2012 Andong Maskdance Festival aims to make the festival an open-air market for turning those who wear masks into “adorable devils,” who are awkward in their way of talking and gesturing, but bring benefits to human beings.

Spectators of the 2012 Andong Maskdance Festival will have an opportunity to see the 12 traditional Korean maskdances, including the Hahoebyolsinguktalnori, noted for its traditional heritage with humor and satire galore. 

Troupes from 11 countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica, Uzbekistan, and Croatia, will perform to dynamic tunes, engaging the spectators in the dancing. 

A world maskdance contest with 54 million won in combined prize money, cultural performances and other diverse events will also take place. 

There will also be the Andong Chajeonnori (a chariot game of the Andong area) with male performers showing off their physiques, which was presented during the opening ceremony of Expo 2000 Hannover; “Notdaribakki,” a spectacular pageant with hundreds of women in their finest dresses allowing the princess to parade into the city on their own backs; and other folklore plays that have been passed down in Andong over 1,000-odd years.

A traditional Korean fireworks display, called “Seonyujulbulnoli,” will brighten up the skies of the Hahoe Village. 

Visitors to Andong will be also given a chance to taste delicious foods indigenous to Andong such as Andong salted mackerel and Andong hanwoo (Korean beef). “Andong Zimdak” (steamed chicken) is offered at shops that line the street near the festival’ s venue.

“Daedong Nanjang Parade,” the main program of the festival, will be staged on Sept. 30, Oct. 2, 4, 5, and 6, in which spectators, men and women, old and young, will have moments of exhilaration with maskdances by expressing their emotions through masks as if they are revealing their own world hidden in their inner mind and enjoying a retreat from their pressure-packed daily lives.