Samcheok Full Moon Festival is a festival that blends Gijuldaligi, a local Samcheok-si play, together with three ancestral rites for the gods of heaven, agriculture, and the sea.
The festival includes a range of traditional activities including fireworks, a celebration ceremony, gilnori (parade), pungmulnori (Korean drum performance and dance), burning daljip (bundle of twigs that is burned to bring good luck), local dialect contest, yutnori (traditional board game), ssireum (wrestling) and many more. The gijuldaligi (tug-of-war) contest has become a popular traditional activity, and is now held throughout the country.
The festival is held at Expo Square, not far from cultural tourism spots including the exhibition hall of caves, Jukseoru Pavilion, Haesindang Park, and Hwanseongul Cave.
* Giljuldarigi (gejuldarigi; ge means "crab")
In this version of tug-of-war, participants on the either side each hold on to smaller ropes linked to a thick rope, and pull the small strings that are linked to the thick strings. Participants are divided into two groups based on where they live in proximity to Osipcheon Stream, which through downtown Samcheok. The game’s legend said that the winning village areas would receive a prosperous year, a big catch, and have luck throughout the year.
