Ewha Bagel, a baking club bakesmadeleines ahead of the DaedongFestival.Photo provided by Ewha Bagel
Ewha Bagel, a baking club bakesmadeleines ahead of the DaedongFestival. Photo provided by Ewha Bagel.
Episode, the 2019 Daedong Festival planning team, prepares ropes for the Youngsan tug of war program. Photo by Ko Y.u-seon.
Episode, the 2019 Daedong Festival planning team, prepares ropes for the Youngsan tug of war program. Photo by Ko Yu-seon.

 

Every year, in May, Ewha hosts the Daedong Festival, the annual school festival organized by the Student Government Association (SGA)’s event planning team. This year’s event planning team, Episode and various student organizations have come together for the 133rd rendition of this event. 

Each year, the student council planning team re-establishes the guiding mottos for the festival. Episode’s mottos this year are “Unity, Leap and Solidarity.” According to SGA’s Facebook page, unity refers to bringing together all the 15,000 Ewha constituents, while leap suggests “providing a platform for the small changes in school to transform into a meaningful leap.” Finally, solidarity denotes Ewha’s long tradition of resistance against unjust social issues.

This year’s Daedong Festival takes place from May 14 to 16, however, some activities occur prior to the main festival. One such event is the Youngsan tug-of-war program. In fact, the program not only covers tug-of-war but also twisting ropes. It was open to all students at Ewha and took place from April 30 to May 13, the eve of the Daedong festival. The event is to take place from Period 3 to Period 7 during which many students are expected to participate at the Student Union Forest.

The Youngsan tug-of-war program originated in 1986, and this year is the 33rd year of continuing the tradition. The program first started in the 1980s as part of the fight for democratization in Korea, with 22 universities organizing it. But as of 2019, only Ewha continues to maintain this tradition. To improve upon the weak participation from last year’s program, the student council has put more effort into publicizing the event this year. The tug-of-war program will also highlight the closing ceremony of the Daedong festival scheduled on May 16. 

“I think it is very meaningful for many Ewha constituents, since the very rope we twisted will be used for the closing ceremony of the Daedong festival, and I was also happy to learn the history behind the program – it is my hope that this tradition will last,” said Chae Seung-joo, a freshman in the Department of Chemistry & Nanoscience. 

Other student clubs are also preparing for their booths and performances which are to be held during the Daedong Festival. 

One such club is Ewha Bagel, the school’s central baking club. Club members gathered to bake madeleines, a soft French sponge cake in the shape of a shell to prepare for the festival. They also practiced making items they plan to sell during the festival such as cranberry sabres, lemon madeleines and brownies. In addition to their baked goods, the club also plans to sell macaron and madeleine-shaped badges.

Imagist, a film camera group  of the Division of Communications and Media, will be selling self-designed tote bags. After receiving orders from students,members used their photo editing skills to design the bag.

“We have an increased sense of responsibility as we use our photography pieces as a motif for the tote bags we sell – it is actually quite onerous to follow through every step of the process from design to placing the order, but at the same time it is a meaningful activity,” said Min Kyeong-hee, a sophomore in the division. 

Performance clubs started their practice session as early as late April or early May. Twofive, a jazz club, is performing and running booths selling stickers and lighters among other merchandise. 

“We’ve been practicing day and night to prepare for our performances and we anticipate that many will come to appreciate our efforts,” said Lee Bi-ya, a sophomore in the Division of International Studies.

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지