Mass Games

Mass Games, Pyongyang - darkometer rating : 3 - (but spectacle and weirdness factor 10!) The (former) "Arirang" Mass Games (so it is generally agreed) were the single most amazing thing that North Korea had to offer, indeed the greatest show on Earth. Simple as that. It's a visual spectacle like no other, involving over 100,000 performers, gymnasts, dancers, soldiers, singers, acrobats, and 20,000 human "pixels" providing an ever-changing backdrop. The wow-factor is almost indescribable. In 2012 it was announced that this particular show would be discontinued, but then they suddenly decided to run another season of it in 2013. We'll see what will happen in the future. But if they eventually do stop running the show as Arirang then we can expect something new to take its place, perhaps an even more exuberant show? > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: Meticulously choreographed mass rallies and performances have always played a part in (especially) communist countries' propaganda-cum-entertainment events, but nowhere has the art been so perfected and so blown out of any proportion than in North Korea . There are in fact several mass events of the sort in the country, but the pinnacle of it all until recently was the "Arirang" show in Pyongyang – by far the biggest and most carefully choreographed such show. The name is derived from a folk song, a national all-time favourite, which naturally features in the show.