Giant whale installation to appear in Jeju fest

A festival “Colorful Sanji,” jointly hosted by the Jeju Island and the Jeju Tourism Organization, is scheduled to kick off Saturday at Jeju Island’s Tamna Culture Plaza.

The festival runs through Sept. 12, and the highlight is a media art exhibition which features a 30-meter giant whale installation made of three thousand model sardines.

The whale display will be decorated with colorful lighting, videos and music, throughout the festival period, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The artwork was inspired by the whales and sardines swimming near the Sanjicheon Stream, that starts from Hallasan, the country’s tallest mountain, and flows out to Jeju Port.8.

“The installation symbolizes a whale coming to visit and play in the clean environment of Jeju, along with the sardines staying close to whales,” explained an official at the Jeju Tourism Organization.

On weekdays, the festival will offer diverse activity programs. Visitors will be assisted by staffs, to make their own sardine miniatures from recycling plastic bottles and float them on the stream. Coloring and painting experiences are also set up outdoors.

During weekends, musicians and singers including singer-songwriter Lee Mu-jin, singer-actor Lee Jung and rapper BE’O will perform in front of the whale installation.

Flea markets will also take place along the trails of Sanjitmul Park, to foster and support Jeju’s local economy.

Information and updates on schedules can be found at the organization’s website, visitjeju.

By Hwang Dong-hee (hwangdh@heraldcorp.com)