Set for Saturday at Mullae Neighborhood Park, the festival brings together some 2,500 residents for human rights experiences, classical vocal and ocarina performances, a bubble cinema show, and an outdoor film screening featuring five short films — including award winners from Korea's Paralympic smartphone film festival and barrier-free titles.
Yeongdeungpo-gu will host the 11th Welfare and Culture Festival "Wheel the World" at Mullae Neighborhood Park on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The name "Wheel the World" evokes rolling the world forward on wheels — a vision of a society where all residents, regardless of disability, can move freely and respect one another's dignity and rights.
This year's festival will feature 38 participatory booths, offering visitors hands-on opportunities to engage with diversity. The grounds will include human rights campaign booths with craft activities, quizzes and roulette games, resident-organized booths, a food market and a flea market, where people with and without disabilities can enjoy a wide range of welfare and cultural experiences side by side.
Awareness campaigns will address disability inclusion and rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, along with an accessibility quiz booth. The festival will also feature a vocational rehabilitation shop selling diffusers and handmade confections crafted by residents with brain lesion disabilities, a free waffle booth run by individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, and a charity bazaar to raise funds for disability welfare — all designed to foster genuine independence and mutual understanding.
The cultural program will open with a stage performance and an opening ceremony. Pre-show singing will be followed by a first set featuring a classical vocal ensemble, trot-style dance and ocarina performances by local community groups. The second set will present "Bubble Cinema," a fantasy bubble-and-magic show from a traveling mini-concert series.
The festival's centerpiece, the "Different or the Same — Human Rights Film Festival," will then take the outdoor stage. Five short human rights films will be screened under the autumn night sky: three award-winning entries from the Republic of Korea Paralympic Smartphone Film Festival and two barrier-free films that break down barriers around disability. The screenings aim to give residents a moment of warmth and heightened sensitivity to human rights in everyday life.
"We have put together a full program — from stage performances and experience booths to an outdoor human rights film festival — so that everyone, young and old, can come together and have a great time," a Yeongdeungpo-gu official said. "We will do our utmost to ensure safety and smooth operations on the day, so that people with and without disabilities can gather in one place and share in the value of human rights."
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