Dano (lit. the fifth day of the fifth lunar month) has been a major holiday in Korea since early times as the day is believed to be filled with the positive energy yang. It, also called Surit-nal, Jungo-jeol, Cheonjung-jeol, is one of the four major holidays in Korea, along with Seol(lit. Lunar New Year), Hansik(lit. Cold Food Day) and Chuseok(Harvest Festival). Dano marks start of summer season and is considered the day of the most profuse yang energy, so in traditional Korea, a variety of rituals to expel evil spirits, guarantee a good harvest and peace in the family took place on this day. Most of the households performed an ancestral worship service called Danoje, and made Dano bujeok(lit. Dano Talisman). Women washed their hair with the extract of changpo(sweet flag), and decorated their hair with gunggungi flowers (Angelica polymorpha). Meanwhile, members of the court presented the king with a danocheop (lit. Dano poetry collection). The king, in turn, gave them special Dano fans which were tributed from the provinces. This year, take a few moment sharing the true meaning of Dano; welcoming the summer and wishing an abundance for the coming autumn with your family.

In Korea, there is a traditional custom of giving a folding fan to close acquaintances as a present on the day of Dano. As the beginning of the summer season, on this particular day, King gave members of the court special Dano fans which were tributed from the provinces. "Fan is favored in summer and calendar in winter", as the old saying goes, a fan was considered to be rare and valuable in the past. Through exchanging fans as gifts on Dano, we could realize the wisdom of our ancestors how they ease the scorching summer heat.

On Dano, People(especially, women) washed their hair with changpo(sweet flag) infused water, and decorated their hair with gunggungi(Angelica Polymorpha) flowers. The flower's unique fragrance believed to help repel evil forces. Another custom consisted of carving a sweet flag root into a hair pin and engraving it with Chinese characters with auspicious meanings such as subok(Chin. 壽福, lit. longevity and fortune) or painting it red. The red pigment was considered to thwart evil spirits. Wearing a hairclip made in such a way was supposed to help women cope better with hot summer weather and stay healthy. The custom of washing one's face and hair with sweet flag-infused water and decorating one's hair with a hairpin made out of sweet flag roots were referred to as danojang(lit. Dano decoration).

Representative Dano food includes surichwitteok(lit. rice cake with wheel pattern) and aengdu hwachae(lit. cherry punch). Surichwitteok refers to a type of rice cake made from surichwi(Synurus deltoids, a kind of marsh plant) and stamped with a wheel pattern. The word "suri", meaning "wheel", was given because the rice cakes were marked with a wheel pattern. Aengdu, Korean cherry, often referred to as Oriental bush cherry is at its peak around Dano. Celebrating Dano, newly harvested cherries were offered to the royal court, royal ancestral shrine and family shrine. Aengdu pyeon(lit. cherry juice jelly) and aengdu hwachae(lit. cherry punch) were widely enjoyed among common people during the period of Dano. Aengdu hwachae, in particular, was a popular beverage for hot summer days regardless of social class.

Dano is the day when the yang energy is at its fullest. As this energy was believed to be auspicious, and capable of chasing away evil forces, in traditional Korea, people prepared amulets on this particular day with hopes for a peaceful year.

Pansori is a composite art that a sorikkun(a singer) sings a long story consisted of sori(song), descriptive speech(aniri) and gesture(balim) in accordance with a gosu(a drummer)'s rhythm. Celebrating this year's Dano, the National Folk Museum of Korea offers featured pansori performances; you will experience the true essence of Korean traditional music through these special stages.