Arirang Mass Games

The Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang (), also known as the Arirang Mass Games, or the Arirang Festival is a mass gymnastics and artistic festival held in the Rungrado May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. The games usually take place in August or September. The games were held annually between 2002 and 2013, with the exception of 2006. After a five-year hiatus, the Arirang Mass Games returned for a performance entitled 'The Glorious Country' in 2018.

According to the Russian 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

The name refers to "Arirang", 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 festival was held annually between 2002 and 2013, with the exception of 2006. 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 9 September through 30 September 2018. The new performance was called The Glorious Country () in 2018, and 'People's Country' (인민의 나라) in 2019. A further mass games event has been scheduled to begin on the 15th of August 2020, playing weekly until the 10th of October. 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.

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, its armed forces, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

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 and the flower Kimjongilia is a red begonia). A snowy mountain with a lake represents Mount Paektu, where Kim Jong-il is said to have been born in a log cabin.

Participants

From as young as five years old, citizens 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, 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 as the largest gymnastic display with 100,090 participants at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang.

See also

 Sport in North Korea
 A State of Mind – UK produced documentary (VeryMuchSo productions and Koryo Tours) about child gymnasts in training for the Mass Games
 Juche
 Propaganda in North Korea
 Tourism in North Korea

References

Further reading

External links

 Werner Kranwetvogel with Koryo Tours Massgames Pictures
 DPRK 360 Video and 360 VR of the Mass Games
 Steve Gong Arirang Festival, North Korea 2008
 Arirang Festival 1stopkorea.com
 Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance "Arirang" picture album at Naenara
 Mass Gymnastics in Korea picture album at Naenara
 A slide show about Arirang Festival 2012 (in German)

Category:Propaganda in North Korea
Category:Festivals in North Korea
Category:North Korean culture
Category:Tourist attractions in Pyongyang
Category:April events
Category:Sport in North Korea
Category:Sport in Pyongyang
Category:Culture in Pyongyang
Category:Politics and sports
Category:Sports festivals in North Korea
Category:Annual sporting events in North Korea
Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2002
Category:2002 establishments in North Korea
Category:Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2013
Category:2013 disestablishments in North Korea