The festival and magic festival will be held divided into the categories of art troupes, art squads, itinerant art squads and art groups at theatres and halls in the capital city including the People's Palace of Culture. It will bring together a large number of artistes and working people of more than 40 organizations selected from the capital city and provinces.

Citizens, youth and students with bouquets in their hands greeted the participants in the festival, dancing with flowers at the venue of the opening ceremony. The performance of the women's brass band of the Ministry of Railways revved up the atmosphere.

Present at the opening ceremony were Ju Chang Il, department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Jon Kyong Chol, vice department director of the C.C., WPK, officials concerned and participants in the festival.

Sung Jong Kyu, minister of Culture who doubles as chairman of the festival organizing committee, made an opening address.

He said that celebrating the 82nd birth anniversary of Kim Jong Il as the greatest auspicious holiday of the nation most significantly and in grand style is the greatest honor of the Korean people who cherish the feelings with Kim Jong Il as their blood vessels and the noble moral obligation of his soldiers and disciples.

The speaker declared the festival open, expressing belief that all the participants would highly praise the peerlessly great man and his immortal revolutionary exploits through the festival and more powerfully encourage the Korean people in their heroic struggle to achieve the overall development of socialism under the leadership of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.

Then followed an opening performance given by artistes of the Mansudae Art Troupe and other national art troupes.