5th Month[edit]
Dano (5th day of 5th month)
Dano painted by Hyewon Shin Yun-bok
Dano (Hangul: 단오) is a traditional festival in celebration of spring and farming. On this day, women wash their hairs in water boiled with sweet flag (known as Changpo (Hangul: 창포) in Korea) and men wear iris roots around their waist to ward evil spirits. Main activities include folk games such as Ssireum (Hangul: 씨름, Korean wrestling match) and swing. Also, as it is a time when the summer comes, people present a fan to friends or neighbors wishing that they can beat the heat that summer. On Dano, People eat traditional foods including a variety of Tteok and other herb rice cakes.
UNESCO has designated the “Gangneung Dano-je Festival (Hangul: 강릉단오제)”[2] as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”