Day 1
On the morning of May 16, an unusual hustle and bustle in front of Student Union Building marked the start of the 2017 Daedong Festival, Ewha’s biggest annual festival. Students were busy moving crates and bags, and Ewha Voice followed one of them to Ewha-POSCO Building. “We are going to sell cocktail and omelet bread,” said Kim Yooyoung, the president of BEINGS, an English drama club. “It’s to raise money for our next year’s 77th performance.” Other clubs such as EGG, Saerang and Leap participated to raise funds for their club activities or raise awareness under various themes. Student booths were set up all over the campus, including Student Union Building, Ewha-POSCO Building, Hakgwan and in front of the Main Gate. The theme of this year’s festival was “Ewha Town,” and participants were divided into “continents”: food, DIY, and experience. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., students participating in “Budmon Go” rummaged through the corners of ECC to find “Budmons” hiding in the building. The event was a parody of famous mobile game “Pokemon Go,” and participants collected stamps in ECC to win various prizes at the main booth run by Starting Ewha, the Student Government Association (SGA).
Day 2
On May 17, students gathered at the grass field near the Main Gate. At 5.p.m., the winners of Ewha Rapper went on stage. The winner of the competition won 100,000 won and a chance to perform live on stage. On the other side of the field stood several students screaming at their cellphones. They were participants of “Scream Out,” a competition run by Starting Ewha where students played “Scream Go,” a mobile game that controls one’s character by the volume of one’s voice, against each other. Later in the evening, students gathered at the grass field near the main gate to listen to Stella Jang and Hyukoh play their latest songs, “Vanishing Paycheck” and “TOMBOY.” The day’s events came to an end with the screening of “About Time” along with free popcorn and drinks provided by Starting Ewha.
Day 3
“Ewha Breathing Competition” was held at 2 p.m. on the ECC outdoor stairs. Previously titled “Ewha Spacing-out Competition,” students were encouraged to breathe in the most comfortable way possible, without yawning nor sleeping, while the staff turned on classic and new age piano music. Daedong Festival’s closing ceremony started with traditional Korean percussion performance by student Pungmul club unions from different colleges of Ewha. It was followed by the Yeongsan tug-of-war, an on-going tradition of Daedong Festival. The rope’s traditional meaning of harmony and cooperation symbolizes the spirit of Daedong Festival that has held Ewha students together for the past years. “Achieving something together feels good and Daedong Festival is a great chance to get together with other club members,” said No Ji-won, a member of Hwimori, pungmul club. “I’m glad that I participated in the ending ceremony as a janggu player. Now, I really feel like I belong to this university and my club.”