The annual season of university festivals has come again and Dankook University (DKU) was not left out of the fun. The Jukjeon and Cheonan campuses both held festivals where they invited many singers to perform, held markets, and prepared several other events to entertain the hundreds of expected participants.

This year’s event was noticeably different from the ones taking place at other universities as students had a vote about the shape of the festival, called for special lectures, and added movie screenings. The Jukjeon campus held a successful vote regarding the location of the school bar and were effective at granting the changes the students called for. The Cheonan campus voted instead to maintain their festival alcohol-free. As mentioned, special lectures were added to the festival agendas and they mostly related to culture adding a new element to the event, while the movie screenings helped diversify the activities on offer. While the changes were evident, not everything ran as smoothly as organizers had planned. The Dankook Herald (DKH) took to the time to review both campus festivals and here is what DKH found out.

Cheonan campus festival was held from May 12 to 14 under the theme of “DKU only”. The first day of the festival saw organizers busy preparing departmental and club event booths. They had lots of ideas and events to attract people including a barbecue, a water balloon toss, henna tattooing, beverages and many other things were for sale, so many Dankookians and visitors enjoyed the event. The venue included a DK World where people could try a euro bungee, bumper cars, a trampoline, biking and even a hotair balloon ride.

The opening ceremony included an address by the president of the Student Council followed by a spirited performance by Amadas the DKU cheerleading group. At 7 p.m. the Student Council also prepared a club night complete with a free barbeque exclusively for club members.

On the second day, club bands from DKU performed a variety of music, from jazz to rock, at the Clock Tower Square in front of large crowds while at the Student Union, famous comedian Kin Yong-chol hosted a talk called ‘The youth
just got started’, before a packed audience.

On the main stadium the Student Council hosted a talent show dubbed ‘the un-pretty DKU star’. The competition was open to anyone and had many prizes to reward participants for their efforts. After the talent show, famous musicians Leessang and Kim Bum-soo came to DKU and heated up things up. 

The events slowed on the last day of the festival as most booths were closed and the weather was unbearably hot. However, journalist Gwak Jeong-eum’s lecture about ‘10 dating tips for couples’ was very well attended. Along with this lecture, a song festival hosted by DKBS took place at the Main Stadium. Only freshman and sophmores were permitted to take part in festival events however many people came to cheer on their friends and watch other participants. After the song competition, Student Council’s event ‘Food Fighter’ was held and was followed by a B-boy performance. The festival closed with a performances by world star Psy and famous girl group Davichi.

While the festival was deemed an overall success, there were some shortcomings. The 2015 Hee-um Student Council was criticized for insufficient on going communication with other campus institutions and with regards to the progress of
events. Hee-um also banned coverage of the event stating all media belonged to the Dankook Media Center (DMC) without offering prior formal notice or consultation with other interested parties. Also, most official events started an average of 30 minutes late. However, Hee-um was also better prepared as compared to last year as they had announced the festival plans two weeks advance. In addition, voting on whether or not to keep the festival alcohol free was conducted as promised and the results of the vote were respected. 

At the Jukjeon campus, the festival was held from May 20 to 22. A flea market and busking events were set up in Waterfall Park. For sale were bracelets, bags, and other accessories while street performers entertained the visitors. In front of Hyedang Hall, school clubs gathered the hungry students from the festival by selling different kinds of food and beverages such as Japanese food, stir-fried rice cakes, coffee, cocktails, and much more. In the football court, they set up a jelly bag jump and a trampoline. The jelly bag and trampoline proved very popular at this year’s festival. When some students jumped on the jelly bag, they struck entertaining action poses for everyone to enjoy. It was clear from their faces that these activities helped students relieve stress and instead play like children. From 6 p.m. onwards, a night market opened for students to drink and enjoy each other’s company. 

In the open air yard, society clubs offered up several entertaining performances with Moo Horn, Black bears, Moo dak fire, Derail, Muse, NIRSC, Zadrac, Ilrekebra, and God girl all showcasing their talents. This event was followed by the headlining show where famous artists Yoon Mi-rae, Tiger JK, Beenzino, Crush, Bizzy, Jang Gi-ha and faces, Brothers and timid, Soran, Roy Kim, Royal pilots, Brian Park, Eddy Kim, and AOA allperformed for the students. The students and performers both enjoyed the concert. To end the festival, a talent show called Superstar DKU 3 and an after-party were held. In Superstar DKU 3, students were given an opportunity to showcase their special skills while at the after-party, DJ Park Jae-bum, Beatbuger, peach aid, and Jake performed for students. 

During this year’s festival there were also some events that students could enjoy for free such as caricature drawings, a rubber duck catch, and calligraphy writing. These events got a lot of attention from the students. Also new this year, the night market was opened not only in the World peace plaza but also in locations across campus. This made the atmosphere more festive than previous years. There were some changes and improvements to the Jukjeon campus event as compared to last year, but problems remained and still more needs to be done to ensure it runs smoothly next year. Unlike the Cheonan campus festival, the Jukjeon campus decided to open night markets for alcohol consumption.

There were diverse problems at these sites. Firstly, people complained the spread out locations for the night markets were confusing and inconvenient to get to. Last year the night market was permitted to open only above Hyedang Hall, but this time night markets were placed in several locations across campus such as in front of the College of Engineering, the Education Hall, the Business and Educations Hall, the Humanities Hall and Hyedang Hall. Secondly, although marshals were assigned to administer the activities of the campus festival the spread out locations of the night markets made it difficult for them tomanage. There were also less wastebaskets on the sites and as a result, there were more trash and vomit to deal with. In addition, students didn’t effectively clean up when the markets were over and didn’t sufficiently organize their sites. Marshals and cleaners had difficulty keeping the sites organized and tidy. 

Problems were also seen at lunchtime during the festival days. During the festival the Jukjeon campus closed the access roads for the various events and for the night markets. As the roads were obstructed, people couldn’t deliver food on campus to students and workers who were busy preparing for the afternoon and evening events and as a result, they had to go without eating a full meal. Furthermore, when the festival ended, a few details were overlooked in the clean up including the fact that the mini lanterns which were used to decorate campus were left hanging. 

Both festivals had their good points and their problems. As compared to last year, the festivals were better than before. We can only hope the Student Councils will continue building on the good points for next year. However the problems that need to be improved are in the areas of garbage collection and overall cleanliness. A festival which induces the participation of Dankookians will be a more festive environment. By making these improvements, all Dankookians will most assuredly look forward to the next ones.

이지선, 최재훈, 이도현, 박운태, 허윤아  dkherald@hotmail.com