The city of Incheon is holding a family festival to encourage fathers to take part in childcare. The Incheon Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Chan-dae) announced that it will hold the ‘2026 I Love Children Festival’ at the gymnasium of Incheon Global Campus on Saturday, Sept. 12.
 [코리안투데이] Information poster for Incheon City’s ‘2026 I Love Children Festival’ © 장형임 기자 |
The Incheon Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Chan-dae) will host the ‘2026 I Love Children Festival–Reply! The 70s-80s, Dad Is the Alley Captain’ at the gymnasium of Incheon Global Campus on Saturday, Sept. 12. Co-hosted and organized by the city of Incheon and the Incheon branch of the Planned Population Federation of Korea, the event will draw some 500 participants, including families of the Incheon Dads’ Childcare Angel Corps and Incheon residents.
The festival was arranged to cheer on fathers’ active involvement in child-rearing and to broaden communication within families. The Incheon Dads’ Childcare Angel Corps is a fathers’ parenting community that Incheon has supported since 2021 to spread a culture of shared parenting and greater involvement by men. Offering fathering education, mentoring, self-help gatherings and family-participation programs, it has won a warm response among Incheon parents of children aged 0 to 10.
This year’s event is styled with a retro concept that stirs up nostalgia for the fathers’ own childhoods. Participation-based programs take center stage so that parents and children can connect across generations. It opens with cheerleading and a taekwondo demonstration, followed by a ‘Parenting Together Wave’ performance in which all participants move in unison.
Next, an ‘Alley Tour Zone’ equipped with nostalgic sports games and arcade machines, along with an ‘Experience Booth Zone’ featuring no-blank prize draws and four-cut photo booths, recreates the back-alleys of the fathers’ childhoods. A festive open space where the whole family romps together, including a ‘Dance Party with a Kids DJ,’ will also unfold.
Drawing particular attention is the ‘Goblin Market for Sharing Childcare Goods,’ organized in connection with a special self-help gathering of the Incheon Dads’ Childcare Angel Corps. Childcare items voluntarily donated by fathers will be offered through a recreation-style sharing auction, creating a space where children share resources and learn the meaning of eco-friendly giving. Its significance lies in going beyond a mere event to become an experience in which the local community shares the burden of parenting together.
TBN Gyeongin Traffic Broadcasting, NIB South Incheon Broadcasting, Kiho Ilbo, Incheon Ilbo and Hallym Hospital, all part of the Incheon regional coalition responding to low birth rates, are joining forces to carry out a ‘Joint Campaign for Work-Life Balance and Raising Awareness of Shared Parenting.’ Through public-private cooperation, Incheon plans to weave a dense community network and spread a parenting-friendly atmosphere among citizens at large to overcome the low birth rate.
Cho Eun-ju, head of Incheon’s Infant and Toddler Policy Division, said, ‘This I Love Children Festival was arranged to give fathers fond memories of their childhood and to give children the special happiness they created together with their dads.’ She added, ‘We will continue to do our best to keep building an environment for men’s active participation in child-rearing and to make Incheon a great city for raising children.’
Participation is open not only to existing members of the Incheon Dads’ Childcare Angel Corps but to any family living in Incheon with children aged 0 to 10. Families wishing to take part can scan the QR code on the information poster or apply through the Incheon Dads’ Childcare Angel Corps Naver café (https://cafe.naver.com/infatherangel).
지역 홍보대사 신청 기자양성과정 신청 코리안투데이 지부장 신청 코리안투데이 인천강화코리안브랜드대상 신청 최고경영인대상 신청 소비자만족도대상 신청
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