Busan(Nam-gu)

A representative international music festival of Busan, the second Busan Maru International Music Festival (BMIMF) is set to run for 5 days from August 30 to September, 3 2011. The festival will be held in various locations throughout the city, including the Busan Cultural Center. Hosted by the city of Busan and managed by the BMIMF organizing committee, the festival’s goal is to develop the regional art sector while building the grounds for forming a robust global cultural infrastructure. The word “maru” is a Korean word that means “the best” and reflects the goals of the BMIMF of becoming one of the most recognized music festivals both domestically and internationally. This year’s festivities, held under the theme “Musical Globalization,” include performances from 37 teams (500 participants) who hail from all over the world.


Jeollabuk-do(Gunsan-si)

Gunsan Modern History Museum Time Travel sets the stage for experience activities that not only Gunsan citizens but also tourists can enjoy together, showing different aspects of Gunsan. In particular, it is significant in that citizens, not professional actors, prepare and stage their performance. In other words, the event places emphasis on holding a real “open performance,” pursuing participation-oriented performance different from other ordinary shows. In addition, outdoor performance and a modern puppet show that tell about the history and culture of Gunsan let tourists know the attractiveness of Gunsan where independence movements had been actively carried out since the March 1st Movement in 1919.


Gangwon-do(Samcheok-si)

The Maengbang Flower Festival is one of the landmark spring celebrations in Korea and is held every April near Samcheok-si City in Ganwon-do Province. The festival boasts a breathtaking view of canola flowers, cherry blossoms and the blue sea of the East Coast. The festival also offers a diverse set of events and programs including a local produce market, fresh strawberry picking, and exhibition on canola flowers and bees. The Samcheok Tourist Center will also be at the festival to help any tourists to the area visit the variety of tourist attractions nearby such as Haesindang Park, New Millennium Ocean Road, Wife of King Suro Park, and the filming place for “One Fine Spring Day.”


Gyeonggi-do(Gwacheon-si)

Gwacheon Hanmadang Festival, held every fall, is a unique celebration embodying the unique spirit of the street art culture. The festival’s main events are a large selection of performances by various performance teams from home and abroad as well as other invited performers. Shows include street theatre, Madang plays, dance performances, circus acts, mimes, and street music, held in the open-air stages around Gwacheon City Hall. Favorite programs include: Festival Explore Program (an interactive program allowing spectators to experience the joy of street art) and Guest Performances from abroad (giving viewers a rare look at the culture of countries around the world). Besides street performances, there are hundreds of festivities visitors may enjoy including an ‘artist area’, academic events and a marketplace filled with delicacies.


Gangwon-do(Pyeongchang-gun)

The first Pyeongchang Biennale in Gangwon-do is being held in the hopes of pulling off a successful run of the 23rd Olympic Winter Games in 2018 and to put a more cultural touch to the big event. Under the theme of “Earth Harmony”, the biennale will take place in Pyeongchang Alpensia Resort and Donghae Mangsang Angva Expo Hall. Around 120 art pieces from home and abroad, largely consisting of installation projects, sculptures and media works, will be on exhibit. Other programs include a sculpture symposium, special guest artists exhibitions, a media art display, a nationwide students art contest and a media workshop. What’s also on the agenda is the Art Bank Project which intends to nurture new talents and rookie artists. This project is expected to fill Alpensia Resort and downtown Hoenggye with a more artistic vibe. The Pyeongchang Biennale, with the theme "Earth Harmony - Human, Peace and Environment", is a consideration toward a life in harmony and finding a balance between humans and Mother Nature while positioning itself as a starting point of greater harmony and unity.


Gyeonggi-do(Yongin-si)

Korean Folk Village hosts the Good Luck Feast for Welcoming the New Year to celebrate the New Year in February. During this feast, various traditional events including daljip (bundle of twigs that is burned to bring good luck), jisin bapgi (prayer ritual involving singing and playing instruments), sharing tteok (rice cake), stamping bujeok (charms preventing bad lucks), reading Tojeongbigyeol (Korean traditional fortune-telling book) and Yutjeom (new year’s fortune-telling by throwing yut) are available as New Year’s event. Visitors can pound rice cake (tteok) and also try boktteok (복떡) made in the traditional way. Unique programs such as stamping bujeok and reading tojeongbigyeol will entertain visitors who wish to enjoy Korean traditional holidays. In celebration of Seollal (Korean Lunar New Year’s Day), Korean Folk Village plans to introduce a new character, ‘Bok jangsu’ (복(福)장수), followed by Eoggaegeoji, Yeotgeol, and Gumiho. The varied characters each have their own personality. ‘Bok (福) geoji’ likes begging, ‘Bok (福) gumiho’ loves hanbok (Korean traditional costume) and ‘Bok (福) pojol’ cares for folk games. These characters can be seen throughout the festival venue, sharing well-wishing remarks for the New Year. In addition, people can be selected as a winner of ‘Daebak (big luck) lottery’ which provides prizes when playing a simple game with ‘Bok (福) jangsu’. A mask dance performance will be prepared at the entrance of Korean Folk Village to greet the New Year. Other events include face-painting, and deokdam (well-wishing remarks) photo zone. On the day of Lunar New Year’s Day, performance events such as ‘Beauty of Traditional dance, Tradition of Flowers’ and ‘Gukak B-boy’ are planned. Furthermore, visitors who enter the folk village wearing hanbok and visitors born in the year of the sheep can receive a 50% discounted one day ticket. To get the discount, please bring valid ID to the festival site.


Gyeongsangbuk-do(Gyeongju-si)

The Gyeongju Free Market Bonghwang Jangte offers many shops and entertaining events for night-time visitors to the Bonghwangdae area. Tourists can purchase special souvenirs or even make their own at some of the hands-on tents. There are also food trucks for snacks and busking performances to liven up the evening. The market takes place on weekends from March through December, although the hours are subject to change each month. We advise you to check the schedule on the official website before visiting.


Gyeonggi-do(Yongin-si)

Everland Snow Festival is held throughout the winter season, offering a variety of winter activities and games perfect for family and friends. 


Gwangju(Buk-gu)

Gwangju Biennale is an international contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years. Taking place in 2014, the event marks 10th anniversay and will celebrate the importance of being together though the theme of “Burning Down the House (터전을 불태우라).” It will bring together many different people, different times, various roles in arts production, and numerous different positions toward power such as exist  in various social, political, and cultural situations. The biennale consists of an exhibition, several workshops, e-journals, books, and various programs such as residency programs and new commissions. [About the 2014's theme] Burning Down the Houseexplores the process of burning and transformation, a cycle of obliteration and renewal witnessed throughout history. Evident in aesthetics, historical events, and an increasingly rapid course of redundancy and renewal in commercial culture, the Biennale reflects on this process of, often violent, events of destruction or self-destruction―burning the home one occupies―followed by the promise of the new and the hope for change. In the 1930s the critic Walter Benjamin coined the term ‘Tigersprung’ (the tiger’s leap) for a new model of history where the past is activated in and through the present within a culture industry that demands constant renewal. What can the ‘Tigerspung’ mean for today’s ‘tiger economies’ like South Korea in a context where economic and political powers deliver the eternally new of fashionable commodities and industrial progress at the apparent expense of a cultural past? Burning Down the House looks at the spiral of rejection and revitalization that this process implies. The theme highlights the capacity of art to critique the establishment through an exploration that includes the visual, sound, movement and dramatic performance. At the same time, it recognises the possibility and impossibility within art to deal directly and concretely with politics. The energy, the materiality and processes of burning ― the manner in which material is changed and destroyed by flames into the residue of dramatic interventions or remnants of celebrations ― have long informed artistic practice. The transformative powers of fire are central to the way in which this exhibition has been imagined. -Courtesy of Gwangju Biennale Foundation  


Gyeongsangbuk-do(Pohang-si)

The Homigot Octopus Festival is an annual festival held at the end of April. Visitors can enjoy freshly caught octopus from the East Sea. Various programs and events will be also be held including watching sunrise on a boat, octopus auction, etc.