[Culture] Chuseok Festival?

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What is Chuseok Festival??? Well if you are into korean culture, variety shows, dramas etc I'm sure you've heard about this festival before..

Like my self, I've heard and seen koreans celebrate chuseok in variety shows.. :) I just Luv korean variety shows I can watch it all day and laugh all day :)... anyway..

What is Chuseok (추석)? and when do Korean celebrate it?
It is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many other harvest festivals, it is held around the Autumn Equinox. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food.

Family outing celebrate Chuseok...

Dates for 추석 on Gregorian calendar...

Chuseok is on the following days:

• 2006: October 6
• 2007: September 25
• 2008: September 14
• 2009: October 3
• 2010: September 22
• 2011: September 12
• 2012: September 30
• 2013: September 19
• 2014: September 8
• 2015: September 27
• 2016: September 15
• 2017: October 4
• 2018: September 24

Chuseok, as well as the day before it and afterwards, are legal holidays in South Korea.

In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of one's ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.

One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. Other dishes commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruits.

Oh and people wear Hanbook during Chuseok!!.. I luv Hanbook..

소녀시대 making 송편 during Hello Baby filming..

Folk games

A variety of folk games are played on Chuseok to celebrate the coming of Autumn and rich harvest. Village folk dress themselves to look like a cow or a turtle, and go from house to house along with a Nongak band playing music. Other common folk games played on Chuseok are tug of war, ssireum, archery and gama fighting. Folk games also vary from region to region. Ganggangsullae dance which is forming a circle under a moon is performed by women and children in southwestern coastal regions, and cockfight or bullfighting in the southern regions.

Chuseok This Year....

Chuseok or the Korean Thanksgiving ( or the Harvest Moon Festival ) falls on the 22nd of September this year and it looks like the race for train tickets back to the hometown has started once again. This is a reminder then for tourists planning to travel around the third week to make their reservations a.s.a.p. and for those staying in Seoul to brace themselves for many closed shops and restaurants during this period.

This photo was taken at Seoul Station. These people in the queue lines are certainly taking no chances as they are booking seats one month ahead of one of the most important festivals in the country.