From October 4th to 5th, the 2018 Festival “ESKARA” was held on the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus and the Natural Sciences Campus. The official title of the festival was “2018 ESKARA Youth Festival: Finding Huge Dreams.” Preparing for this festival, the 50th student council, “S:with,” said that it focused on the integration of both campuses, since the festivals were held on each campus respectively in the past. To be specific, S:with increased the number of shuttle buses between the two campuses from six times to 22 times a day to make it easier for Kingos to come and go between both campuses. Also, the student council introduced new programs such as speeches from alumni in cooperation with “micimpact,” a company that provides speeches with useful content to the public, because there was a need for new programs at the festival with the recent declaration of banning university students from selling alcohol at university festivals by the Ministry of Education (MOE).
On the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus, the festival took place at Geumjandi Square during the daytime. There were many kinds of booths such as booths for youths, club booths, and the student council’s booth. In particular, youth booths were run this year for the first time for cheering up Kingos’ youths as places where they could relieve their stress by enjoying special programs, such as shooting games. Also, the student council booth gave T-shirts, cotton candy, and popcorn to Kingos for free and lent out mattresses so they could enjoy the performances on stage. Furthermore, there were speeches about the meaning of youth on the stage. Also, the movie About Time was played at Geumjandi Square during the evening of October 4th. On the Natural Sciences Campus, the festival took place on the main stage at the Global Square during the day and night. Programs such as an eSports contest, snack stalls, speeches, performances by entertainers, and an afterparty were held. The eSports contest was held with the game League of Legends, and the Natural Sciences Campus team beat the Humanities and Social Sciences Campus team 2-0.
This year, there were several changes from last year’s festival. First, the “Kingo zone” was established for Kingos to enjoy the performances closer to the stage, which was expanded to the whole main stage on the Natural Sciences Campus. Moreover, Kingos could buy two wrist bands for entering the festival with their friends, which was the result of accepting feedback from some Kingos who wanted to enjoy the festival with their friends from other universities. S:with also operated a “Barrier-Free Zone,” cooperating with “Equal,” a student club that deals with the rights of people with disabilities.