The schedule for the LA Korean Festival has been finalized. The 51st annual festival will be held from September 26 to 29 at Seoul International Park in Los Angeles Koreatown.
The LA Korean Festival Foundation held a press conference at its office on August 13 to unveil the progress of next month’s festival.
The theme of this year’s festival is “Celebrating Diversity”. The festival aims to bring together LA County residents to enjoy Korean culture.
At the press conference, the festival foundation officials expressed confidence that the festival will be the Korean cultural festival representing the city and county.
The foundation is planning to make the festival a festival that the local community can enjoy together by actively promoting the festival, rather than the previous passive approach to non-Korean visitors and other communities.
“K-pop, movies, and Korean food are gaining popularity in the U.S. and around the world,” said Alex Cha, chairman of the festival foundation. “The half-century-old LA Korean Festival is the leading Korean cultural festival in the city and county of Los Angeles, and we hope to grow it into a festival recognized by the world beyond LA.”
The four-day festival will feature cultural performances by Korean and local stars, an expo fair for Korean local governments and small businesses, information about local agencies and nonprofit organizations, and a food market.
The cultural performances will feature celebrities such as Killagramz, Justin Park, As One, Hohyun, Kevin Chung, Suran, Kim Woojin, Hong Kyungmin, and Kim Hyunjung, as well as other Korean and local community performers. Fifty-six Korean local governments and small and medium-sized enterprises will set up 116 booths at the expo with a total of 291 booths at the festival to provide tourism information about Korea and showcase Korean products and specialties.
The leadership of Korean local governments including Daegu Mayor Hong Joonpyo, Tongyeong Mayor Cheon Youngki, Yeongju Mayor Park Namseo, Yeoju Mayor Lee Chungwoo, Goesan Mayor Song Inheon, and Jeollanam-do Vice Governor Park Changhwan will also be visiting the festival.
The festival foundation is organizing programs for residents to participate in and enjoy the opening ceremony and major performances on the center stage.
“The festival will simplify the introduction of VIPs at the opening ceremony to enhance the stage performances so that many people can enjoy the start of the festival,” said Cha, adding, “We hope to see active participation from the Korean-American community.”
The festival foundation announced that it has registered as a nonprofit organization (501(c)3) that can accept donations from government agencies and others. Through this, it has also started raising funds for community development, including local governments.
So far, six neighborhood councils, including Wilshire Center and Koreatown, have donated between $1,000 and $4,500.
For more information about the 51st LA Korean Festival, visit lakoreanfestival.org.
BY HYOUNGJAE KIM, HOONSIK WOO [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
