Culture of Jinju

class="apple-converted-space"> (1592–1598). Other major festivals include: theNongae Festival, the Korean Drama Festival, the Gaecheon Arts Festival and the Jinju National Bullfighting Contest.

The Nongae Festival [1], held in May each year commemorates and celebrates the sacrifice of the beautiful and patriotic gisaeng (professional Korean entertainer) Nongae's suicide-assassination of a Japanese general together with the 70,000 Koreans who lost their lives in the battle of Jinju Castle during the Imjin War. The festival features an emotional reenactment of Nongae's suicidal drowning of a Japanese general from uiambawi (righteous rock) below Chokseongnu (Jinju castle pavilion) on the banks of the Nam River.

Gaecheon Arts Festival is annually held from October 3 to 10 and the entire city turns to the streets for celebration at Korea's first provincial culture art festival, which awakens the artistic spirit of the Korean people. The festival falls around Gaecheonjeol (National Foundation Day) and is widely regarded as one of Korea's finest.

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