Gangwon Province will hold the 2020 Gangwon Kids Triennial to help make the dreams of children come true, and help relieve the pressures they feel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gangwon Cultural Foundation will hold an online field briefing on the Gangwon Kids Triennial 2020 at Wadong Branch School in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Province on Sept. 23.

The Gangwon Kids Triennial 2020 is for second-year events for the Gangwon International Art Festival, Korea’s first three-year-cycle art tour.

The event will run for 18 days from Oct. 22 to Nov. 8 at an old ammunition factory in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Province (Art Ammunition Show), Wadong Branch School (Art School Wadong) and the Hongcheon Museum of Art (Art Kid Show).

The online on-site briefing will present the theme and main poster of the Gangwon Kids Triennial, the nation's first children's visual arts festival, works and exhibitions by participating artists.

It will also explain the significance and process of converting unique places exclusive to the region, such as the old ammunition factory and Wadong Branch School, into cultural and artistic spaces for children.

The on-site briefing will be attended by Han Jem-ma, creative director of the Gangwon Kids Triennial 2020 and Shin Ji-hee, head of the Gangwon International Arts Festival Management Office, writer Lim Ok-sang, writer Han Seok-hyun, writer Park Dae-geun and writer Paki among others.

The event will be broadcast live on YouTube. A question and answer session for viewers interested in the event will also be held. Anyone will be able to participate in the briefing through the official YouTube channel of Gangwon International Arts Festival (bit.ly/gangwonart).

"Starting with the official online field briefing, we hope that many people will pay a lot of attention to the Gangwon Kids Triennial 2020 which will begin its countdown in earnest," said Kim Pil-guk, chairman of the Gangwon Cultural Foundation. “I hope many people will watch the event via the internet in order to make the event successful. The event will excite people with various interesting contents.”

In the meantime, the Gangwon Convention & Visitors Bureau (GWCVB) has begun to develop a new MICE market in Russia. “MICE” stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions.

The GWCVB is an organization dedicated to the MICE Industry in Gangwon Province. The GWCVB said on September 17 that it participated in the NTO Joint Asia Online MICE Show to expand the new MICE market in Russia.

The event was co-hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the Japanese National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Travel Media.

It was held as an exhibition in a hybrid format (an offline event in Russia and online in Korea) through a video conference platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The GWCVB introduced Gangwon Province as one of Korea's popular emerging MICE region through a hybrid B2B consultation meeting for 150 travel agencies specializing in MICE and luxury travel programs in Russia, receiving much attention and positive responses from industry officials. 

"Although the MICE industry has fallen into a crisis due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we will focus on exploring new markets including Russia through online fairs to secure the upper hand in attracting MICE events and visitors in competition with other cities in the post-COVID-19 era," a GWCVB official said.

Gangwon Province is a popular tourist destination in Korea. The region offers a blend of pristine nature and upscale recreational facilities as it is situated in the mid-eastern part of the Korean Peninsula and is divided into two areas, Yeongdong and Yeongseo, by the Taebaek Mountain Range stretching along the eastern part of the peninsula.