Korea Science Festival aims at making science more familiar to the public and elevating the image of Daejeon as an advanced science city. It is a specialized cultural and tourist festival linking the Science Belt, the biggest tourism resources in the central region of Korea, with Yuseong Hot Springs Special Tourism District.The festival venues have different zones by themes including health, SF and Hi-tech culture, and by different groups including family zone, foreigner zone and youngster zone. Without a doubt, it will offer unrivaled enjoyment to all tourists through diverse science experiences and experiments.
The World Taekwondo Hanmadang is the global Taekwondo headquarters, and presents the true essence of Taekwondo's elements, including attacks, demonstrations, and self defense. Every year at the World Taekwondo Headquarters, an international Taekwondo competition is held in order to manifest the spirit of this martial art and to increase the unity of global Taekwondo martial artists. Since its first opening in 1992, the competition has become known as the world's leading authority for the tradition of Taekwondo.
Through the World Taekwondo Hanmadang, participants can enhance the value of Taekwondo as a cultural consciousness, and also act as an instrument through which the superiority of Taekwondo's culture can be spread globally. In particular, it functions as an international Taekwondo instructional festival for those not well-versed in its practices, and through the tourism programs offered for international Taekwondo practitioners to visit the martial art's home country and headquarters, the event will serve as a commercializing opportunity to propel the spirit of Taekwondo further. With over 50 nations and over 5,000 attendees annually, in addition to the actual sparring events, through its display of poomsae, attacks, self defense, and Taekwondo gymnastics, it is making its mark as an international Taekwondo festival that highlights the elegant and sophisticated elements of this ancient martial art.
Baudeogi made history by becoming the first female entertainer in Korea to lead the vaudeville troupe Namsadangpae. Armed with her artistic personality and an array of special talents, Baudeogi entertained the construction workers working on Gyeongbokgung Palace in the 19th century with popular folk performances. In recent years, Namsadang’s Jeonsugwan was recreated to share the indomitable spirit and artistic talents of Baudeogi with the people of today.The reformatted performance is comprised of six exciting acts of Namsadang: Salpan (a tumbling performance), Deolmi (a puppet show), Deotboegi (a mask show), Pungmulnori (a traditional folk dance), Beonanori (spinning hoops and dishes), and Eoreum Jultagi (tightrope walking). Much like in the olden days, the show embodies the spirit of coming together and is a fascinating and energetic display of folk art that is as captivating the first time you see it as it is the hundredth.Major Highlights: The most popular portion of the program is the tightrope walking act called “Eoreum Jultagi,” which starts with audiences breathlessly watching the risky tricks upon the rope and ends with thunderous rounds of applause.
This festival takes the theme of ‘Jeongseon Arirang’, a variation of the Korean folk song ‘Arirang’, which was developed in the Jeongseon region. The Jeongseon Arirang Festival was started to preserve the ‘Jeongseon Arirang’, an intangible cultural asset, and to pass along its culture to following generations.One of the festival’s main events is a performance of the famous ‘Arirang’ folk song, and there are many other events and programs. In addition, there is a folk market called the ‘Jeongseon 5 Day Market’, which opens every five days, where visitors can experience the lively bustling atmosphere of a Korean folk market and purchase agricultural produce at low prices.Nearby famous tourist destinations include the rail bikes, Gangwon Land, and more.
Icheon has been a valuable city for ceramic arts since originating in the Bronze Age. It was designated as a “City of Crafts and Folk Art" on the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in 2010. Here visitors can see a variety of Korea's finest ceramics such as Cheongja (celadon porcelain), Baekja (white porcelain), and Buncheongsagi (grayish-blue powdered celadon). The festival is Korea's largest ceramic culture festival.
Homigot, the main venue of the Homigot Sunrise Festival, is located on the easternmost point of the Korean Peninsula. Homigot means ‘village on a tiger’s tale’ and is also the location for the first sunrises in Korea.The festival includes local cultural performances, a New Year celebratory event, fire show, sunrise concert and other diverse performances. Visitors may sample free tteokguk, a traditional New Year’s Day dish, during the special event of ‘Serving tteokguk for 10,000’. Other events such as kite-flying and launching hope balloons with wishes attached will provide enjoyable moments to reflect on the previous year and create new year resolutions.
Polar Bear Swimming Contest is held in every winter that allows participants to swim in the sea, just like a polar bear. It offers an exciting experience to participants and sightseeing to tourists, along with various programs as a famous winter festival. More than 2,000 people from Korea and abroad are expected to be participating in this event as the festival was thought to be one of the best winter festivals in the nation.
Seoul Kimchi Making & Sharing Festival is held in the area of Gwanghwamun Square. Registered as one of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Gimjang (preparing kimchi for the winter) has drawn a lot of attention from all over the world. However, the culture of gimjang is slowly disappearing, as Korean culture becomes more globalized. Seoul goverment has planned this festival to revitalize the culture of gimjang, preparing almost 20 programs divided into the 5 sections of sharing, exhibition, hands-on programs, market place and food, and culture for visitors to enjoy the festival to the fullest.
As the world’s only DMZ documentary film festival, this event offers an important opportunity to learn more about one of the world’s most unique political situations. The annual celebration usually runs for about 7 days every September. It is a comprehensive cultural festival featuring over 100 local and international documentaries and a variety of cultural events, planned exhibitions, and performances.
This festival celebrates the achievements of Korea’s Dr. Wangin, who travelled to Japan over 1,600 years ago to spread knowledge culture and art.
His teachings included the Thousand-Character Text (a primer of Chinese Characters) and the Analects (Discourses) of Confucius. Wangin taught writing composition to the Japanese and developed the foundations of education, which greatly influenced all areas of study, including social science, politics, economics, culture, and art.
This festival is set in the beautiful landscape of Wolchulsan National Park and Dr Wangin’s achievements are celebrated with various performances and cultural events. The festival takes place in April when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.