The Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang (), also known as the Arirang Mass Games, or the Arirang Festival is a

mass gymnastics Mass games or mass gymnastics are a form of performing arts or gymnastics in which large numbers of performers take part in a highly regimented performance that emphasizes group dynamics rather than individual prowess. North Korea Mass games a ...

and artistic festival held in the

Rungrado May Day Stadium The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium occupying an area of on Rungra Island, Pyongyang, North Korea. It opened on 1 May 1989, with its first major event being the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. It is the seco ...

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. The games usually take place in August or September. The Arirang Mass Games were held annually between 2002 and 2013, with the exception of 2006. After a five-year hiatus, Mass Games returned for a performance entitled 'The Glorious Country' in 2018. According to the Russian state news agency "TASS", "Arirang is a gymnastics and artistic festival, known as mass games. The extravaganza unfolds an epic story of how the Arirang nation of Korea, a country of morning calm, in the Orient put an end to the history of distress and rose as a dignified nation with the song 'Arirang'. The Arirang performance has been included in the Guinness Book of Records."

History

Laika ac Arirang Mass Games (7934639696)

The name refers to "

Arirang "Arirang" (; ) is a Korean folk song. There are about 3,600 variations of 60 different versions of the song, all of which include a refrain similar to "''Arirang, arirang, arariyo'' ()". It is estimated the song is more than 600 years old. ...

", a Korean folk story about a young couple who are torn apart by an evil landlord, here intended to represent the

division of Korea The division of Korea began with the defeat of Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be ...

. The festival was held annually between 2002 and 2013, with the exception of 2006. In 2007,

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

became the first South Korean President to attend the games during the

2007 inter-Korean summit The 2007 Inter-Korean summit meeting was held between October 2 and October 4, 2007, in Pyongyang, between President Roh Moo-hyun of the Republic of Korea and Kim Jong-il of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). It is the second Inter ...

. The mass games were not held in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. In recent years, foreign tourists have been allowed to watch one of the many performances. The mass games returned after a five-year hiatus, taking place from September 9 through September 30, 2018. The new performance was called "The Glorious Country" (). On September 19, South Korean President

Moon Jae-in Moon Jae-in (; ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean former politician, civil servant and lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea between 2017 and 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs an ...

attended the Mass Games with Supreme Leader

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

and addressed the crowd of 150,000. The 2019 edition was named "People's Country" or "The Land of The People" (). A further mass games event has been scheduled to begin on August 15, 2020, playing weekly until the October 10. The dates of this presently unnamed performance are designed to coincide with the start of the 75th anniversary of Liberation Day and the 75th anniversary of Party Foundation Day. The 2020 edition was eventually held from October 11 through October 31, and was entitled "Great Leadership" (). Although held during the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's borders were closed to foreigners at the time. There were no mass games in 2021.

Iconography

The Mass Games possess an important ideological character setting out the legacy and political narratives of the North Korean state, with emphasis placed upon

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...

, its armed forces,

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

and

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Ki ...

. These messages may not be clear to foreign spectators, who are not aware of North Korean iconography: a rising sun symbolizes Kim Il-sung. When a gun is shown, it signifies the gun which Kim Il-sung gave to his son Kim Jong-il. The colour red, particularly in flowers, stands for the working class, and the colour purple and red flowers represent Kim Il-sung (as the flower Kimilsungia is a purple

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri ...

and the flower

Kimjongilia Kimjongilia is a flower named after the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. It is a hybrid cultivar of tuberous begonia, registered as ''Begonia'' × ''tuberhybrida'' 'Kimjongilhwa'. When Kim Jong-il died in December 2011, the flower was u ...

is a red

begonia ''Begonia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates. Some species are commonly grown i ...

). A snowy mountain with a lake represents

Mount Paektu Paektu Mountain (), also known as Baekdu Mountain and in China as Changbai Mountain ( zh, s=长白山, t=長白山; Manchu: Golmin Šanggiyan Alin), is an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border. At , it is the highest moun ...

, a traditional symbol of Korea and where Kim Jong-il is said to have been born in a log cabin.

Participants

From as young as five years old,

citizens Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

are selected based on skill level to serve for the Arirang Festival for many years. In most cases this will be the way of life for them until retirement. They are students of 8 schools of Pyongyang, each of them has its own colour. These are *서성 Seoseong (red and yellow) *평천 Pyeongcheon (green and white) *대동강 Daedonggang (blue and yellow) *모란봉 Moranbong (red and white) *보통강 Botonggang (blue and white) *만경대 Mangyeongdae (red and white) *대성 Daeseong (blue and white) *락랑 Rakrang (red and yellow)

Events

The opening event of the two-month festival are the mass games, which are famed for the huge mosaic pictures created by more than 30,000 well-trained and disciplined school children, each holding up coloured cards, in an event known in the West as a

card stunt Card or The Card may refer to: * Various types of plastic cards: **By type *** Magnetic stripe card ***Chip card ***Digital card **By function ***Payment card ****Credit card ****Debit card **** EC-card **** Identity card **** European Health Insur ...

, accompanied by complex and highly choreographed group routines performed by tens of thousands of gymnasts and dancers.

World record

In August 2007, the Arirang Mass Games were recognised by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the largest gymnastic display with 100,090 participants at the

May Day Stadium The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium occupying an area of on Rungra Island, Pyongyang, North Korea. It opened on 1 May 1989, with its first major event being the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. It is the sec ...

in Pyongyang.

References

External links

* Werner Kranwetvogel with Koryo Tour
Massgames Pictures

DPRK 360 Video and 360 VR of the Mass Games
* Steve Gon
Arirang Festival, North Korea
2008

1stopkorea.com
''Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance "Arirang"'' picture album
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...

''Mass Gymnastics in Korea'' picture album
at Naenara

{{Coord, 39, 2, 58.47, N, 125, 46, 30.79, E, region:KP_type:landmark_scale:3700, display=t Propaganda in North Korea Festivals in North Korea North Korean culture Tourist attractions in Pyongyang April events Sport in North Korea Sport in Pyongyang Culture in Pyongyang Politics and sports Sports festivals in North Korea Annual sporting events in North Korea Recurring sporting events established in 2002 2002 establishments in North Korea Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2013 2013 disestablishments in North Korea