How the 104th Children’s Day Festival in Anyang is Shaping the Future: Insights from Young Voices

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Pyeongchon Central Park was filled with children’s laughter and voices. To mark the 104th Children’s Day, Anyang staged a special platform where children could speak directly about the city’s future.

The Anyang Children’s Day Festival at Pyeongchon Central Park on May 5 ran from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and was more than a simple play event.

This year’s theme, \”Anyang: Where a Child’s Choice Begins,\” put an open-mic format front and center so children could voice their opinions directly.

Organizers set up 18 hands-on booths across the site. Attractions such as AR Racing, which brings game characters into the real world, and the AI Language Playground, which analyzes children’s emotions, created an Anyang-style future experience that blended technology with play.

Children splashed and ran around the fountain while families spread blankets and relaxed under the trees. The park was transformed into a vast playground and a place to unwind.

The children’s reactions on site were simple but revealing: clear signs of satisfaction.

At the Anyang Children’s News Desk, five-year-old Kim Sua, who visited with her family, said simply, \”I like it,\” and added that she would like to come again. Seven-year-old Choi Hari, after a ball-throwing activity, said, \”I had fun today\” and added, \”I’m happy and excited.\”

Those brief remarks captured the festival’s mood: enjoyment, a sense of security, and the positive feelings that come from spending time with family.

Insects and Libraries: The Anyang We Dream Of

On the open-mic stage, children spoke directly about the city’s future. Twelve-year-old Bae Won-jun, a student at Deokhyeon Elementary, and nine-year-old Bae Eun-chae offered distinct visions for Anyang — one focused on insects, the other on libraries.

Bae Won-jun stressed that insects are central to ecosystems and food production and highlighted the need to protect them. Noting that pollinators such as bees play a major role in global food supplies, he said, \”A city that lives with insects is a good city.\”

He has continued insect-ecology research through a gifted-program track and other inquiry activities, and he keeps observations and records in daily life — a young researcher in practice.

Bae Eun-chae asked the city to build more libraries. She currently visits a library once a week but said she would like to go four times a week. She aspires to be a writer and has won awards in writing contests.

The festival ended, but the questions it raised remained. True to the theme — a city where a child’s choices begin — the park functioned not just as an event site but as a living laboratory for the city’s future.

Insects and books, play and technology: different narratives intersected in one place, and the children were already sketching Anyang’s tomorrow in their own ways.