Seoul(Guro-gu)

The Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization are sponsoring the 2018 PyeongChang K-pop Festival for foreigners at Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome on the evening of September 8. The line-up will include hallyu stars like SHINEE, BEAST, Wonder Girls, Boys Republic and more. Other activities of the festival include a special stage, hallyu drama experience booth, photo wall, gift event and more. To participate in the event, foreigners can visit the festival website to apply for and download a free admission coupon. More information can be found on the FAQ page of the website.


Chungcheongnam-do(Asan-si)

The Asan Great Admiral Yi Sun-Sin Festival celebrates one of Korea’s most famous war heroes, Yi Sun-Sin, who defeated the Japanese in a momentous naval battle around 460 years ago. The festival takes place in the period around the Admiral’s birth date on April 28 in order to commemorate his achievements. Events at the festival will include a reenactment of the parade when Yi Sun-Sin took his sailors off to war and displays featuring detailed reproductions of the famous turtle-shaped ships (Geobukseon, 'Turtle Ship'), which were used in the battle.


Seoul(Jung-gu) , Seoul City Hall・Gwanghwamun

While walking along the intimate ambience of Deoksugung Doldam-gil, you will come across Jeongdong Theater. This theater was opened as a cultural space for locals citizens.Opened on June 17, 1995, Jeongdong Theater is historically significant in that it represents the restored Wongaksa, the first modern theater in Korea. Founded on modern artistic inspirations, Jeongdong Theater features numerous critically-acclaimed productions, such as “Traditional Art Performance,” “Masters Exhibition,” and “Art Frontier,” as well as programs like “Art Stage at Noon” that are geared toward the general public. As a result, Jeongdong Theater has become one of Korea's representative traditional arts performance theaters.The theater successfully held the performance “Miso” in 2010, featuring the traditional musical "Love Songs from Chunhyang," written and created by Jeongdong Theater. Through this, the musical attracted many foreign visitors from all over the world, passing on Korean cultural values and beauty, as well as creating interest on the global stage. As of now, the theater is showing the performance "The 2nd Story of Miso: Baebijang-jeon," a reinterpretation of the fundamental values of Korean cultural and art into the modern era. It can easily be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, whether Korean or not.


Gyeonggi-do(Goyang-si) , DMZ•Panmunjeom

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.


Gyeonggi-do(Anyang-si)

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.


Busan(Haeundae-gu) , Haeundae

This festival takes place at Busan’s beautiful Haeundae Beach, an extremely popular summer vacation spot. The festival’s program is full of events inspired by the beach’s beautiful white sand. One of the highlights of the festival is the hot sand bath (beneficial for health and beauty), where visitors are buried in the sand from head to toe. Other events include a beach volleyball competition, an exhibition of different types of sand from around the world, and a marathon race.The festival continues into the night with spectacular fireworks displays, concerts, and other entertainment events. Popular tourist destinations such as the Jagalchi Market, Gwangalli, and Taejongdae are all located nearby. Visitors can also stop by one of the many restaurants along the coast to sample the sushi for which Busan is famous. 


Gyeonggi-do(Anseong-si) , Anseong

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.


Seoul(Jungnang-gu)

The festival takes place every May in the area of Jungnang-gu where thousands of roses blossom to form a 5.15km-long rose tunnel. Performances and activity programs will be prepared to entertain visitors along with a magnificent finale of fireworks on the last day of the festival. Nighttime visitors are welcome to enjoy the sight of roses as well with their beauty maximized by a variety of lighting effects. The festival celebrates each day with diverse contents based on different themes and provides photo zones throughout the event venue for visitors.


Chungcheongnam-do(Dangjin-si)

Gijisi Juldarigi is the main feature of this 500-year traditional folk festival, not like festivals developed on purpose by local governments. Juldarigi, a tug-of-war game, was started to pray for peace and fortune in the new year and to be in concord with neighbors as part of a traditional village’s feast. In 1982, Gijisi Juldarigi was designated as Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 75, one of Korea’s representative Intangible Cultural Heritages. Also, it was registered in 2015 as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO along with Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.


Seoul(Jung-gu) , Myeongdong

NANTA is one of Korea's top performances, a show about four chefs who must prepare a wedding banquet in just one hour. The plot is depicted through various genres of performances, including percussion that uses kitchen utensils to make beats based on traditional rhythms of samulnori (traditional percussion quartet). The entire show has no spoken dialogue, yet plenty of comedy and romance, too. Meanwhile, since its debut in October 1997, NANTA (also known as Cookin') has earned international acclaim, having been performed on Broadway and at other famous venues worldwide. * Note Due to the MERS outbreak, some performances will be discontinued until July 2015.