Daedong Festival, a festival where all Ewha students, alumni and faculty come together, was held from May 15 to 17. Students opened booths and participated in various events such as Ewha Cinema and Ewha’s Got Talent. This year, there were some new attempts to make the Daedong Festival even more festive. The Rights Zone emerges to promote the rights of minorities The Student Minority Rights Committee decided to run the Rights Zone for the first time in Daedong Festival. The idea was suggested to allow more students, including minorities who might have felt isolated from booths in previous years, to participate in and enjoy this year’s festival. The Rights Zone included various booths promoting the rights of both runners and users of booths. It included barrier-free booths, booths selling meat-free foods and booths dealing with human rights. To ensure better accessibility, the Rights Zone was located along the path between Clara Hall and ECC, making it convenient for participants to reach the place from both the front and back entrances of the school. It was also an area less crowded with people, allowing participants to move around more easily in the zone. Solchan, a school club promoting the rights of vegetarians and animals, ran a booth in the Rights Zone. “The club is planning to focus on selling vegan meals because it is part of a campaign that we can do inside school,” said Cho Kyounglim, a junior majoring philosophy and a president of Solchan. “Since Daedong festival is known for its food, we believe that meat accounts for a big part of the festival. Thus, we will also be handing out cards that depict the harsh lives of livestock.” “Although the Rights Zone is being run for the first time throughout Daedong festival’s history, I hope that it can also be sustained in the future,” Cho said. “Since booths regarding minority rights are gathered in an area, I believe that it can gain more attention from students.” Pear Blossom Night Market: Carrying on the festive spirit at night For the first time in Ewha’s 132 years of history, Pear Blossom Night Market opened during Daedong Festival. Until now, booths have closed usually around 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., but through Pear Blossom Night Market, students could also enjoy their festival at night as well. Pear Blossom Night Market started its program from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the first day of Daedong Festival. Booths were lined up alongside the road from the Student Union Building to Human Ecology Building. A total of six booths managed by the participants took part in the program, including four food booths which offered standard dishes and two booths which sold their goods, such as Ewha Cats’ stickers. There were also other events that students could enjoy such as the busking event and making wish bracelets. Daedong Planning and Coordination group organized this program because they wanted to extend the Daedong festival booths that were popular among Ewha. “We felt bad about only having these booths during day time,” said Lee Hae-ji, the head of Daedong Planning and Coordination group. “We thought that it would be special to have food booths and performances during the evening at least for one day among three days of Daedong festival.” Moreover, Lee stated that they are looking forward to seeing new features of Daedong festival as it is managed at night. “I especially enjoyed Gambas, a Spanish dish with shrimps,” said Lee Ji-yoon, a freshman majoring French language and literature. “I never thought I would be enjoying such a delicious dish at night. Also, I liked listening to busking events while waiting in line. It was a new experience.”