Festival Yields Rich Harvest : Garden Grove Event Is an Education in Korean Traditions

GARDEN GROVE —  Janet Unger went to the 11th annual Orange County Korean Festival on Saturday and, like many of the 60,000 people who have attended the eight-day event, she had a personal reason for coming.

“I’m Korean and my husband is Anglo so our children are mixed,” said Unger, 32. “I want them to know about my culture so they won’t grow up racist.”

Festival officials said the event was organized to improve understanding and share Korean traditions with the community. By the time the festival ends tonight the crowd is expected to total about 120,000 for the entire event.

The festival began Oct. 2, two days after Chusok, the 2,000-year-old Korean Autumn Moon Festival, which takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

Chusok celebrates a bountiful harvest and the traditional worship of ancestors. More than half of South Korea’s population this year staged a mass migration to their native towns to visit burial grounds of relatives and eat specially prepared Korean food, including songpyong (half-moon-shaped rice cake stuffed with crushed sesame seeds, water chestnuts and sometimes powdered soybeans) and jantok (thick rice cakes fried in kochijang, a spicy sauce).

Event organizers said they scheduled the original festival to coincide with Chusok for Korean-Americans to remember that their homeland’s traditions are important, but that so too is unity among all cultures.

“Chusok is Korean Thanksgiving Day,” said Raymond G. Choi, festival chairman. “We wanted to give thanks that we still have our own beautiful culture, traditions and customs to pass onto the younger generations, who will carry them on. But, this celebration is not just for Korean-Americans. It’s for everyone--for harmony among all races.”

He added that the festival, billed as the largest Korean cultural event in Southern California, serves as an educational experience.

Four-year-old Joyce Lee ate songpyong with her parents Saturday while waiting for the parade, one of the festival highlights, to begin. Her father, Hae Bong Lee, said he doesn’t want his daughter to forget where her family comes from, and the festival helps her learn and become proud of her Korean heritage.

“Young people need to be taught about Korean culture,” said Garden Grove City Councilman Ho Chung, a native of Korea and founder of the festival. “Korea has a history of over 4,000 years.”

The parade featured tae kwon do students, bands, youngsters dressed in traditional Korean attire, colorfully decorated floats--some representing the many Korean-owned businesses in the community--and Grand Marshal Frank Kessler, the mayor of Garden Grove.

Kessler was chosen to reign over the parade for his work with Koreatown merchants and for being instrumental in getting a police substation opened there four years ago, Chung said.

“This festival has been growing every year,” Kessler said while waiting to taste songpyong and other Korean foods. “It’s a way of better understanding the culture of the Korean community in Orange County, which is very eager to be a part of the mainstream.”

Thousands of people enjoyed eating and participating in activities at the festival grounds in the KD (Kyung Dong) and Seoul Plaza on Garden Grove Boulevard, the site of a mock traditional wedding, tae kwon do martial arts demonstrations, carnival games, concerts, folk dances, an open-air market and dozens of contests.

Fifty Jin-Do dog owners gathered at Garden Grove Park hours before the parade to enter their dogs in competition.

Jin-Do dogs are the most popular in Korea and considered by many to be the national treasure. They are native to a Korean island and have been around at least 2,000 years, officials said. The purity of the generally yellow and white dogs has been maintained because of the island’s isolation.

By holding the competition, officials said they hope to get the dogs recognized and registered in the American Kennel Club as purebreds.

Jenny Chon, 41, said she entered her 3-month-old Jin-Do because she is proud of the dog and where it came from.

“Jin-Dos are the smartest and bravest dogs,” said Chon, a La Habra Heights resident who moved to the United States 18 years ago. “They are known to protect their owners and they’re from my homeland.”

Back on the parade route, Lorraine Galaviz, 45, said she enjoyed the show.

“I came here to understand the differences of the Korean culture from the food to the floats and clothing,” she said. “I love cultural events. I learn a lot from them.”

Chung said the festival, sponsored by the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, is expected to raise about $30,000. Some of the proceeds will be donated to local charities, while the rest will go toward financing next year’s festival.

A chess and bowling tournament, Korean-wrestling match, song festival, folk dance, fashion show, music concert and closing ceremonies will take place today from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.