Event news: London Korean Festival 2017 with Feel Korea

As part of KOREA/UK 2017-18, the London Korean Festival 2017 with Feel Korea offers day-long family festival and then an evening K-Pop concert at Olympia on 8 July.

London Korean Festival 2017 with Feel Korea

Olympia London | Hammersmith Road | Kensington | London W14 8UX
Saturday 8 July 2017, 11am – 10pm
Both daytime entry and evening K-pop concert is by ticket only. Tickets from Eventbrite. Daytime entry is free. Concert is £30 + booking fee.

Following the incredible success in Trafalgar Square in 2015, Korea’s biggest and the most exciting family day, the London Korean Festival returns to the capital on Saturday 8th July 2017.

As part of Korea/UK 2017-18 the London Korean Festival offers breath-taking performances, taking in everything from Korea’s oldest traditions to the latest K-pop hits.

Numerous cultural programmes will fill London’s Olympia with a Korean vibe, these include a variety of cultural and experiential programmes such as Korean culture workshops, Korean food tasting events and animation screenings that the whole family can enjoy, as well as taekwondo demonstrations and B-boy dance battles. Additionally, visitors can see a preview of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in the experience hall.

After the free family and food events, the ticketed evening programme of the festival will feature four K-pop idol groups HIGHLIGHT, EXID, KNK and SNUPER.

Daytime schedule (free)

11:00	Opening	Exhibitions and Experience Korean Food & Drink Traditional Korean Costumes Crafts Traditional Games K-pop Animation Screenings Webtoons Korean Tourism PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games
12:00 – 13:30	Performance: TAGO, Drifterz Crew, Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration Team
14:00 – 15:30	K-Pop World Festival UK Preliminary Special Guest Jurors inc. KNK and Tammy (Loko)
16:00 – 17:30	Performance: TAGO, Drifterz Crew, Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration Team

Performers

TAGO

12:00 – 13:30 & 16:00 – 17:30
TAGO are a traditional Korean music group of musicians whose mantra is “We play for a brighter world”. Last seen in the UK in 2011 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, TAGO return to the UK with their engaging, energetic take on traditional Korean performance. Each set includes a variety of creative activities around traditional instruments varying from gigantic drums to small percussion with a hint of martial arts thrown in, all of which spices up the show with its dynamic movement.

Drifterz Crew

12:00 – 13:30 & 16:00 – 17:30
Drifterz are a B-Boy crew who are highly respected within their discipline and were selected by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture as representatives of Korea. Drifterz Crew were the first to showcase a performance that blended traditional Korean music and B-boy dance and culture. They are also winners of the ‘Red Bull BC One World Final’, a 1 to 1 dance battle competition held annually in major cities across the globe.

Launched in 2003, Drifterz Crew have competed in and won numerous international competitions as well as performing for both domestic and international broadcasters, movies and commercials.

Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration Team

12:00 – 13:30 & 16:00 – 17:30
Since its foundation in 1974, the KUKKIWON Taekwondo Demonstration Team has toured to over 120 countries, acting as both ambassadors for Korea and Taekwondo in general. The team leads the way in terms of taekwondo’s demonstration culture and the UK will be one of over a dozen countries they visit in 2017.

Exhibitions and Experiences

Through a culinary experience within the K-Cuisine Zone; interactive activities centred on traditional Korean costumes and handicrafts; and altogether more modern events relating to animation, characters, webtoons, and beauty, the London Korean Festival 2017 will provide a unique and immersive cultural experience of Korea.

PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games & Korean Tourism Zone

• Exhibition featuring the official mascots of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, as well as details of the ski centres and Olympic venues
• VR simulation of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games’ venues
• Introducing Winter Olympic sports such as Ski Jumping and Ice Hockey
• Photography exhibition featuring landscapes and UNESCO World Heritage sites of Korea

K-Experience Zone

• Experience traditional Korean costumes with photo zone
• Discover traditional Korean games such as Tuho and Jegichagi
• Korean crafts

K-Cuisine Zone

• Korean cuisine tasting event (traditional food, fermented sauces, beverages and street food)
• Korean food court

K-Content Zone

• Free animation screenings including Pororo the Little Penguin, YooHoo & Friends and Larva
• Exhibition and experience of self-assemble toys and radio controlled cars
• Life size K-Pop stars and music video room
• Webtoon

Evening K-Pop Concert with Feel Korea (19:00 – 22:00)

Ticket holders only. Tickets £30 from Eventbrite
19:00 – 20:00 Doors open
20:00 – 22:00 Concert
Line-up: HIGHLIGHT, EXID, KNK and SNUPER (standing tickets only)

HIGHLIGHT

Formerly known as Beast, HIGHLIGHT is a boy band which consists of five members: Yoon Du-jun, Yong Jun-hyung, Yang Yoseop, Lee Gi-kwang, and Son Dong-woon. As Beast, the group debuted in 2009 with the mini-album Beast Is the B2ST before releasing three Korean full-length albums, nine Korean mini-albums, two Japanese full-length albums, and numerous singles. As the newly formed HIGHLIGHT, in 2017 they successfully released their first mini-album Can You Feel It? which immediately took the top spot in the k-pop charts and won numerous awards for the song Plz Don’t Be Sad.

EXID

EXID, short for “Exceed In Dreaming” is a girl group of 5 members that consists of Solji, LE, Hani, Hyelin and Jeonghwa. Their song Up & Down proved to be a huge hit and since then they have gone on to capture the nation’s hearts as the country’s most beloved girl group. Following the recent release of a new mini-album entitled Eclipse, EXID have been at the forefront of K-Music once more. EXID will make their London debut at the London Korean Festival this summer.

KNK

KNK is a five-member boy band under YNB Entertainment, the company’s first male idol group. KNK is an initialism which stands for K-pop kNocK. It means “to knock on the door of K-pop with their music.” They held their debut showcase in February 2016 and released their debut single album titled Knock in March 2016.

Snuper

Snuper, meaning “Higher than Super” is a six-member  boy band under Widmay Entertainment, the agency’s first Korean pop group. The group consists of six members: Suhyun, Sangil, Taewoong, Woosung, Sangho and Sebin. They debuted in November 2015 with the extended play Shall We and the single Shall We Dance.

Snuper photo credit: 1thek (official Youtube account)

Enjoy the fun!

(automatically generated) Read LKL’s review of this event here.