It’s only early March, and I’ve already noticed that people are googling for “London Korean Festivals” in 2008. So here is a list of all potential Korean events in the London area in 2008 which have “Festival” in their title. This is obviously a work-in-progress post; with luck it will, over time, answer all your questions. I’ll update it as I get more information.
Clearly, everything’s provisional until the organisers send out their official press release or put details up on their websites.
| What? | Where? | When? | Who’s in charge? | How was it last year? | More details |
| Dano Festival | Trafalgar Square | 8 June 2008 | Korean Cultural Promotion Agency | Here | Here |
| New Malden Arts Festival | New Malden | 2-22 June 2008 | Theatre 4 All | Here | Here |
| Korean Food Festival | New Malden | 12 July 2008 | Korean Restaurants & Supermarkets Association | Here | Here |
| Kingston Korean Festival | Fairfield Recreation Ground, Kingston | Probably not happening | Korean Resident’s Society | Here | Here |
| London Korean Film Festival | Barbican | 6-12 Nov 2008 | Korean Cultural Centre UK | Here | Coming soon |
Who do we have to thank?
The Korean Cultural Centre UK (KCCUK) is part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, so ultimately we have the Korean taxpayer to thank. The KCCUK may also seek outside sponsorship for its own events. This is to be encouraged as it makes their budget go further. After all, they’ve now got an expensive building and more staff to pay for.
The Korean Cultural Promotion Agency, Theatre 4 All, The Korean Food and Restaurants Association and the Korean Residents Society are independent bodies run by local Koreans (and, in the case of the KCPA, a board of trustees including Brits with relevant expertise and interests) and are dependent on membership or outside sponsorship for funding. Sometimes that sponsorship may come in part from the KCCUK or other government agencies.
There is a prestigious LKL “Sponsor of the Year” award for the company who provides the most generous, imaginative, or courageous sponsorship. Last year the winner was Asiana Airlines for being the only corporate sponsor brave enough to back the first ever Dano festival in Trafalgar Square. It is to be hoped that other sponsors will now join the fun, and contribute double to make up for last year. In 2006 the winner was Samsung, for providing a lot of the backing for the last of the London Korean Festivals organised by Oh Tae-min and his team at CNE-UK (formerly part of the Korean Anglican Community Centre), another independent body which used to bring us all sorts of fun and informative events alongside their annual film festival.
Dear Sir,
I would be grateful if you could kindly let me know when will be the next Korean Food Festival in New Malden 2008?
We have been to the event in the past and we are very interested and looking forward to attend this event again.
Kind regards,
Adeline Low
It’s on my to-do list. I’m sure it’s on the Korean Residents’ Society website, but as I don’t speak Korean that’s no use to me. I’m always dependent on my very patchy network of Korean informants. But it’s near the top of my to-do list now, so keep checking this page.