[Photo News] With Christmas near, there is magic in the air

Though an indoor amusement park, it snows twice a day at Lotte World Adventure.

With the arrival of the winter holiday season, the park has been showing two Christmas-themed parades every day. Around 100 performers, mostly foreigners, turn into characters from Santa’s village, such as Santa, a tree, elf or snowman. Trains with ice-cream and cookie decorations complete the scene.

An hour before the parade, the performers appear at ease, idly spending their time in the dressing room. But 10 minutes before standby, they hurriedly change into costumes and put on makeup. They always wait for the last minute to do this, as they are not allowed to drink or eat anything after the makeover.

Each parade lasts around 30 minutes, but the performers have more tasks. They have to put on stage performances, street performances and also work as guides at the park.

It is not an easy job, but it is hard to detect a trace of weariness or fatigue on the faces of the performers when they are under the spotlight. They fully immerse themselves into their characters.

“It is a pleasure that we can show people that there is a miracle, regardless of language or cultural differences,” one of the performers said.

Photo by Park Hyun-koo
Written by Im Eun-byel