Anseong Matchum Namsadang Baudeogi Festival

A traditional culture festival held every autumn in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, honoring Baudeogi, the first female kkoktusoe of the Namsadang troupe, and Namsadang Nori.

Anseong Matchum Namsadang Baudeogi Festival

Overview

The Anseong Matchum Namsadang Baudeogi Festival (안성맞춤 남사당바우덕이 축제) is a traditional culture festival held every autumn in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. It has continued since 2001 to honor the artistic spirit of Baudeogi (바우덕이, 1848–1870), the first female kkoktusoe (leader) of the Namsadang troupe in the late Joseon period, and to inherit and develop Namsadang Nori, a National Intangible Cultural Heritage and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. With well-organized planning and high citizen participation, it is regarded as one of the Republic of Korea's premium festivals and has established itself as a cultural tourism brand representing Anseong.

Main Content

Background and History of the Festival

Anseong was an area where sadangpae and Namsadang troupes were active in the late Joseon period, and it has long been a place with a deep foundation in folk arts. The festival began in 2001 from a movement to reexamine the Namsadang tradition of the Anseong region as a local cultural resource, and later gained international attention when Namsadang Nori was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. It is held every autumn around the Anseongcheon Stream, Anseong Matchum Land, and the Namsadang Performance Hall, and has grown into a complex cultural festival combining an opening parade, pungmul competitions, permanent performances, and hands-on activities.

The Figure Baudeogi

Baudeogi is said to have been born in Anseong in 1848 and died in 1870 at the age of 23; she became the first female leader (kkoktusoe) in the male-centered Namsadang troupe. With outstanding tightrope walking (eoreum) skills and excellent leadership, she led the troupe around the country and left a name for her character of caring for her colleagues. The festival takes her life as a symbolic archetype and adopts as its themes the pride of female artists, community spirit, and the vitality of people's art.

The Six Madang of Namsadang Nori

The core content of the festival is the six madang of Namsadang Nori. First, pungmul nori (samul nori of kkwaenggwari, jing, janggu, and buk, along with mudong); second, beona (plate spinning); third, salpan (ground tumbling); fourth, eoreum (tightrope walking); fifth, deotboegi (mask dance); and sixth, deolmi (kkokdugaksi puppet theater). During the festival, the six madang are performed in sequence, allowing audiences to appreciate the overall flow of traditional performance arts in one place, and the demonstrations of high-level techniques by tightrope masters receive great responses from visitors every year.

Major Programs

Representative programs include the opening parade and gilnori, the National Pungmul Competition, youth pungmul competitions, permanent performances of tightrope walking, beona, and salpan, the Baudeogi Selection Contest, Baudeogi musicals and creative performances, Namsadang experience classes (tightrope walking, samul nori, mask dance experiences), food markets and night markets, and media art and fireworks productions. In particular, the Baudeogi Selection Contest has established itself as a symbolic event that discovers traditional arts talent and highlights the capabilities of female artists.

Venues and Scale

The main stages are set up around the Anseongcheon Stream, Anseong Matchum Land, and the Namsadang Performance Hall. Anseong Matchum Land is a complex cultural space created in the Bogae-myeon area of Anseong, equipped with permanent performance venues and experience facilities, and serves as the base of the festival. During the festival, pungmul groups and performance organizations from all over the country and overseas folk art troupes participate, and the number of visitors reaches hundreds of thousands in cumulative attendance.

Regional Economic and Cultural Significance

The festival is linked to the promotion of Anseong's local specialties such as brassware (Anseong matchum), Hanwoo beef, grapes, and rice, contributing to the revitalization of the local economy. It also creates cultural ripple effects such as traditional arts education for youth, training of intangible heritage transmitters, and job creation for local artists. Anseong City is seeking to commercialize tourism and establish urban identity by using Namsadang as its city brand.

Recent Trends

Entering the 2020s, the festival went through downsizing and online streaming during the COVID-19 period and then normalized around in-person performances; in 2024, it was held in a form combining pungmul competitions, nighttime media art, and experience programs for the autumn season. Recently, efforts have been strengthened to discover young performance troupes and female performers, exchange with overseas folk art troupes, and collaborate with local universities and arts organizations. In 2025 as well, it is being promoted for holding around October, and programs are becoming more diverse in a direction that simultaneously pursues the transmission of intangible heritage and popular enjoyment. In addition, immersive content using digital technology, simultaneous online streaming, and eco-friendly festival operations (use of reusable containers and waste reduction) are expanding. The festival is evolving beyond a simple spectacle into a platform that creates an ecosystem for transmitting intangible heritage, and is mentioned as a case benchmarked by traditional festivals in other regions.