The upcoming Korean Festival in Los Angeles is set to see a younger, more racially diverse audience than ever before.
The L.A. Korean Festival Foundation admitted that the previous events have focused on middle-aged Korean immigrants over the last 40 years. The decision this year comes after a series of criticisms that encouraged the foundation to provide a trendier environment.
The foundation has already begun promoting the event on Facebook and Instagram by cooperating with an agency specializing in new media advertisement.
“We were initially concerned about being understaffed to take on advertising through social media,” said foundation’s event organizer Ji-hye Yang.
“We were able to delegate the work to an agency. As we now have experts promoting the event, the reaction has been three, four times stronger than it has been in the past.”
Prior to seeking professional help on promotion, the L.A. Korean Festival Foundation’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LAKFF) hovered just over 4,000 “likes.” Just 10 days after partnering with the agency, the number has shot up to well over 5,000 now. The likes on its Instagram (@lakoreanfestival) has also surpassed 440.
“The decision to work with an agency was our way to expanding the reach of the festival,” said chairman Jimmy Lee. “It’s an agency that has also done promotion for K-Town Night Market, so we expect to see a bigger younger generation and more non-Koreans. We hope this is an opportunity for us to get away from the old image of a ‘jangtuh’ and establish a more festive image for our event.”
The L.A. Korean Festival will be held for the 44th time between Oct. 12 and Oct. 15 at Seoul International Park. As of July 6, 213 or 260 available booths have been sold.
By Byong Il Kim
