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| National e Festival Competitions for Students with Disabilities will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Courtesy of KOCCA |
By Lee Gyu-lee
The National e Festival Competitions for Students with Disabilities kicked off, Tuesday, resuming the annual contest which was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event, co-organized by the state-run Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), National Institute for Special Education (NISE), and local game company Netmarble, will be held for two days ― on Sept. 7 and 8.
"National e Festival Competitions for Students with Disabilities is a ground for disabled students to overcome physical and language barriers to interact with the world and enjoy cultural activities through games," Cho Hyeon-rae, president of KOCCA, said in a statement, Tuesday. "Esports has become more than a game and grew into a sport. So we intend to promote the games and make it more accessible for it to become part of leisure culture."
This year's festival, which kicks off with an opening ceremony at a resort in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, will invite over 2,000 students, parents, and teachers from over 230 special education schools nationwide.
Prior to the main event, about 1,300 students moved through the preliminary rounds, organized by provincial and municipal offices of education from June to July. Some 340 students made the final rounds for the two-day competition.
The players will compete in 9 different games, such as Netmarble's baseball game, "Magu Magu," and motion-sensor game, "Kinect Sports." It will also include games that will invite disabled and non-disabled students to play together, such as for strategy games, "Clash Royale" and "Penta Strom," and board game, "Everyone's Marble."
Along with the gaming competition, the festival will host 16 information technology contests to help students expand their knowledge in areas like coding, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. It will also hold cultural events like quiz shows and an opportunity to interact with influencers.
The highest winner of the eSports competition will be given the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism award, and the runner-ups will receive awards from KOCCA and Netmarble Cultural Foundation.
National e Festival Competitions for Students with Disabilities was launched in 2005 and has been held every year, except for 2020. It aims to develop a safe and sound gaming culture among students and to help those with disabilities to strengthen their ability in information technology. It has also provided a platform for both disabled and non-disabled students to connect with each other.
The highlights of this year's festival, as well as the opening ceremony, will be shared through the festival's official website from Sept. 17.
