Under the theme of ‘The World United in Archery’, archers from 29 countries demonstrated the traditional archery of each country in the city of Yecheon located in the southeast part of South Korea at the World Archery Competition, giving visitors a meaningful time to experience the world’s traditional bows in one place.
At the Yecheon World Archery Festival, International archery teams from 29 countries participated in individual and national competitions to show off their great performances. In the individual competitions, Malaysian archers ranked first, third and fourth, while Polish players took second. In the national competition, two representative archers from each country have participated, with China ranked first, followed by Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
On the opening day, more than 100 archers and bowmen, in their traditional attire and bow, from 29 countries including Turkey, Malaysia and France created magnificent spectacle in the opening parade.
There were also various archery-themed experiential programs including VR shooting, bow hunting experience, and archery survival games.
Another highlights of the festival was the entertaining traditional culture manifested by the local artists engaged in Yecheon Nongyo (farmers’ songs), regional music bands(wind ensemble), and Korean traditional costume parade. There were diverse events promoting Korean folk cultures where visitors and the local residents can participate together, sharing a sense of community. Also, there have been unique art and entertainment programs for the visitors to enjoy such as orchestra concerts, dance performances by Gyungbuk Provincial Dance Company, and smartphone film festival awards.
Besides a variety of archery-related events and performances, the visitors could also enjoy excellent local products in Yecheon Agricultural Products Festival, which was held concurrently. During the festival, people could have learning experiences of innovative technologies in agriculture through the exhibition of labor-saving agricultural equipment in the 6th Industrial Agriculture Promotion Hall of Yecheon.
More than 100,000 visitors have been estimated to come to Yecheon World Archery Festival in 2019, which will be another representative tourist destination of Korea, where visitors can enjoy, learn, and experience cultural heritage of national and international archery.
