Displayed in the venue of the festival are tens of thousands of potted Kimjongilias presented by more than 90 units, including armed forces organs, commissions and ministries of the Cabinet and national institutions, servicepersons, working people from different walks of life, school youth and children, the Central Standing Committee of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan and other overseas compatriots' organizations and overseas compatriots, south Korean people and embassies of different countries and international organizations here, friendship organizations, public organizations, businesses and personages of various countries and Chinese residents.

A ceremony of opening the festival took place at the Kimilsungia-Kimjongilia Exhibition on Saturday.

Present there were Choe Thae Bok, Yang Hyong Sop and officials concerned, officials of units which presented flowers of the sun to the festival, servicepersons, working people, school youth and children, congratulatory groups and delegations of overseas compatriots and the chief of the Pyongyang mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front.

Addressing the ceremony, Kim Pyong Hun, chairman of the Central Committee of the General Federation of the Unions of Art and Literature of Korea, said that the festival, opened on the occasion of the February holiday, would be a flower festival carrying all people's admiration for Kim Jong Il who has demonstrated to the world the dignity and might of Kim Il Sung's Korea with his original Songun revolutionary leadership.

Kimjongilia, an immortal flower, symbolizes the greatness of Kim Jong Il who has made a great contribution to the Korean revolution and the cause of global independence, holding high the banner of Songun, the speaker said, adding: This red flower is coming into fuller bloom all over the world with the reverence of the Korean people and the world's progressive humankind for him that is growing deeper with the passage of time.