Joseon Royal Tombs Festival Opens at Yungneung with "Procession of Eternity"

Opening ceremony to be held on October 16
Highlights of royal tomb musical also to be unveiled

The World Heritage Joseon Royal Tombs Festival, held across 12 royal tombs, will open at Yungneung in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center of the Korea Heritage Service and the Korea Heritage Agency announced on October 15 that the opening ceremony will be held at 7:30 p.m. on October 16 on a special stage at Yungneung.

Scene from the opening ceremony of last year's World Heritage Joseon Royal Tombs Festival / National Heritage Promotion Agency.

The event will begin with the "Procession of Eternity." Sixty-seven people will take part in the procession, which is based on the funeral procession diagram in the "Jangjo Yeonguwon Cheonbong Dogam Uigwe." The procession will depart from the ritual house and continue to the red spiked gate.

When the procession arrives at Yungneung, a memorial prayer will be read in jeongga, a form of traditional Korean vocal music, followed by a paper dance. The opening declaration and an introduction to the main programs will follow.

Highlights of this year's signature performance, the royal tomb musical "Peach Blossoms, Thinking of You Makes Me Sad @Yunggeonneung," will also be unveiled. Set at Yungneung, where Crown Prince Sado and Lady Hyegyeong Hong are buried, the production brings "Sado's sorrow" and "Jeongjo's filial piety" to life at the historic site. The full performances will be staged on October 17-18 and 24-25.

The festival will run from October 17 to 25.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.