“It was cool and fantastic!”
“I'll never forget this festival.”
It is students’ voices that were heard that night. What happened that night?
I was on the spot when the Firefly Festival was held!
By the way … the Firefly Festival? Do you know why we call it the Firefly Festival?
    Most students tend to guess a long these lines: The festival is performed in the dark night. During this time, a lot of fireflies light up the darkness. This is an amazing scene of sparkling fireflies, so its name might come from this scenario. That seems to make sense but, in fact, there used to be a Firefly village where CNU residence hall is now located. This is how the name originated.
    The 13th festival took place in early in May with various events. First of all, Open House --opening the private dormitory rooms to the public-- caught the attention of many students. Usually it was banned to enter dormitories so as to protect students’ personal lives, to prevent theft, and so on. There were many sports events also such as basketball, table tennis, soccer and women’s Indian wrestling. Many students joined and showed of their strength and fitness. A week before the festival, the host authority collected students' opinion about movies, then screened "When Romance Meets Destiny" and "Pride & Prejudice" in the front dormitory of the management building. “This festival was more crowded than I thought and I was happy to notice that not only dormitory students could enjoy it, but also anyone interested could join us and enjoy the many events and stage performances. In particular, seeing a movie outside with many other people was really cool,” said Kwon Ji-hye (freshman, Dept. of Business Administration), one dormitory resident.
    Getting down to the events, it started Saeng Saeng Quiz Show. After that, a renowned campus group, BISON started with a passionate performance and the dance team U.C.D.C. followed to loud exclamations from the crowd.
A free gift lottery was held for the dormitory students. Some received bicycles, others, computer components and free movie tickets. Sizzling Korean pancakes, hot cakes, egg rolls and soondae, the Korean-style black pudding made of bean curd, rice, green-bean sprouts and pig’s blood all stuffed into pigs’ intestines were sold off, as well as lashings of alcohols. Placed in two rows of glimmering candle light, many couples sat lovingly together while, others chatted over drinks. They continuously smiled and laughed while enjoying the romantic atmosphere.
    At this festival, people who wore red T-shirts attracted much attention. They turned out to be the festival volunteers. They were picked out of dormitory students who applied for the job on-line.
    “First of all, I’ve got a bicycle for winning the lottery and I’m particularly interested in this festival because one of the performers playing on the stage is my friend. Also I was selected as one of the volunteers,” said Park Jeong-ho (freshman, dept. of Civil, Geo-system and Environment Engineering).
    Most of the students who participated in this festival showed satisfaction and remarked that they enjoyed it very much. There remains one thing of importance. The Firefly Festival is not only for dormitory students, so the Tribune suggests that more students get involved in this festival and make it an even more Twinkling Firefly Festival next time.
 

저작권자 © Chonnam Tribune 무단전재 및 재배포 금지