▲ Ewha Womans University’s (EWU) May Queen Contest. Provided by vitaedutor

The original purpose of school f e s t i v a l s i s to provide students with freedom to truly enjoy campus l i f e t h r o u g h a t e m p o r a r y e s c a p e f r o m hectic academic schedules. Also, another aim is to offer students an opportunity to come into union to feel a higher sense of school pride. As the number of students in a university is much larger than that of a high school and because the curricula greatly vary according to different majors, it is difficult for the entire campus to bond. Thus, the idea of school festivals was brought up to bring students together, encouraging a sense of unity.

Gradual Transformation of College Festivals

 

Holding to this original purpose, school festivals started to appear during the 50s and 60s. However, until then, college festivals were more of a culture enjoyed by a limited class of people since not many were able to afford going to college back in the day. School festivals, being a rather unique culture among a minority elite class, held many ceremonial characteristics. They mostly consisted of contests held between different departments, particularly dance or skit contests. Significantly, Ewha Womans University (EWU) held May Queen contests, a beauty pageant contest in which girls competed to be crowned Queen, the prettiest and smartest on campus. However, this May Queen concept was soon abolished in the 70s because it was accused of promoting physical appearance over ability.

 

Later on, entering the 60s, festivals started to develop into a more complex form with the combination of academics and entertainment. “Back in the days when I was a university student, festivals were not only about interaction amongst students but also with the professors. We used to co-host symposiums with p r o f e s s o r s t o discuss important societal issues,” said Han Ki-Joo (48, Seoul). Also, festivals in this period had many entertaining events for students to participate in, such as marathons, folk dances, and costume parades. It cannot be denied that the early form of festivals that appeared during this time helped mold the basic foundations for festivals we enjoy today.

 

Moving on to the 70s, school festivals were greatly penetrated with the influx of Western entertainment culture, eventually pushing out the conventional aspects of festivals. Many colleges started to hold couples-only parties, arousing a romantic atmosphere within the campus. However, soon after the advent of the October Yushin (Revitalizing Reform) in 1972, the most violent act of perpetration that degraded Korea into an undemocratic entity, festivals started to transform into a political one. Moreover, growing doubts towards entertainment-oriented festivals brought about an effort to bring back conventional values.

 

   
▲ Famous idol singer 4minute is performing at KU’s festival, the Ipselenti in 2011.

The 80s w a s a p e r i o d o f turbulence as college students were protesting day and night against the government in those days. The most prominent protest was the Gwangju Democratic Movement in 1980. The concept of school festivals started to extend to one in which the youth sought to reach realization of their ideals through forming a community under the same goal. It was also during the 80s, the term “daedong” was first coined as a means to unite university students and ignite democratization movements against the authoritarian regime. Thus, the term “Daedong-je” (one big gathering) was used for the first time during this era, which showed that students had been the center of the event.

Festivals  

 

Nevertheless, nowadays, campus festivals have lost their original meaning and degenerated as a means to serve entertainment and recreational purposes. According to a recent survey conducted by a job search engine, Albamon, 40.7 percent of college students out of 365 students replied that they would not attend their own school’s annual festival. Amongst this 40.7 percent of the respondents, 37.9 percent claimed that the main reason is that they do not have time to spare, while 24.1 percent said it is boring, and 20 percent of the students answered that there are no programs worthy to partake in. This survey clearly shows how pessimistic students have grown towards the idea of college festivals. It is ironic, since the students who should be enjoying this day more than anyone else are the ones who do not even wish to participate. The center of college festivals, which should be the college students, are in absence.

 

One of the causes can be found in our highly competitive society. Students are busy preparing for their future and careers, starting early on in their college years, leading them to not have enough time or the right state of mind to enjoy festivals. However, the main reason why students do not participate in the festivals is because they no longer feel affiliated with the degraded image of festivals. Kim Eun Bi (’10, English Language and Literature) said, “Festivals no longer speak up for their higher purposes in creating the atmosphere of reconciliation and unity. Festivals now seem more of a commercial and consuming-based event.” During the festival season, all we can see are various companies opening their marketing booths inside the campus, students staying up all night binge drinking in stand-up bars, and students hollering frantically to see idol singers show their grooves.

Current Form of College Festivals

 

First of all, festivals nowadays are greatly characterized by the performances of popular celebrities. It is no exaggeration to claim that celebrities are the main reason students come to the festival. As much as this is the reality, students no longer seem like participants of the festival, but rather like an audience going to watch a concert of their favorite celebrity.

 

 

Behind the glamor of the large scale performances of famous celebrities, lies the struggle of each university’s student council. As difficult as it is to contact idol groups that are fully booked during the festival season, it is just as expensive to have them come and perform. According to a staff member of SeoKyeong University, “It costs over 2,000,000 won to invite a celebrity and at times over 4,000,000won according to the celebrity’s fame.” In other words, it costs the total tuition semester fee of one student to watch celebrities singing three songs for just ten minutes. It is an irony that college students fight for half-price tuition but at the same time want to see high-priced celebrity performances.

 

The same repertoire of festivals is also a major problem universities face today. Celebrities come and go and students hold stand-up bars, encouraging all-night drinking. There are fewer programs with useful content or in which students can participate in actively. Possibly the only part of university festivals that are fully student-run are the bars that sell drinks and food. However, such a culture has also become tainted with bad customs such as binge drinking, overly-expensive beverages and snacks, and one-time events mostly focused on entertaining customers. Within the college campus in which students should be learning something profitable, students are only learning how to live under capitalistic values by constantly consuming and selling. We call this time of year a “festival,” but what is it that we are celebrating?

 

   
▲ Students drinking all night in stand-up bars.

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