It is a national flower festival held annually in

Masanhappo-gu Masanhappo-gu ( ko, 마산합포구; Hanja: 馬山合浦區; Masanhappo District), formerly known as Happo, is a district in the City of Changwon, South Korea. History In the late 19th century, the town was considered "one of the finest harbours ...

Changwon Changwon () is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million , Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south ...

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World ...

. The Masan Gagopa Chrysanthemum

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

(hangul : 마산가고파 국화축제) celebrates the excellence of the

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center ...

and has been held since 2000 to promote the consumption of

. It started with the first 'Masan Chrysanthemum Festival' in 2000 and changed its name to the 'Masan Chrysanthemum Exhibition' in 2002. In 2005, the festival changed its name to the 'Masan Gagopa Chrysanthemum Festival'. The festival features a song contest, an essay contest, and a

Si-nangsong The Si-nangsong () refers to the Korean poetry recitation style, which conveys emotions by memorizing poems. History In South Korea, it began to be known to the public through a festival called 'Hurrah for the Poets' in 1967. At that time, many p ...

(poetry recitation) contest. About 1.5 million tourists visit during the festival.마산 가고파 국화축제 150만 명 '花색만발'
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Masan Masan is an administrative region of Changwon, a city in the South Gyeongsang Province. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae. Masan was redistricted as two district ...

is a place where the history of chrysanthemum cultivation is enshrined. In 1961, six farms in Hoewon-dong started the first chrysanthemum commercial in the nation. It has grown since then and was exported to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

for the first time in 1972. It currently accounts for 13 percent of the nation's growing farmland.

References

External links

* *{{Official website, http://festival.changwon.go.kr/gagopa/new/jsp/main/main.jsp Annual events in South Korea Flower festivals in South Korea Culture of Changwon Autumn events in South Korea