Abu Dhabi: The Korea Festival is coming to Abu Dhabi for the fifth consecutive year, giving residents a first-hand experience of Korean culture.
Starting Wednesday, the month-long festival organised by the Korean Cultural Centre will also hold activities Al Ain, Sharjah and Dubai.
It is one of the centre’s main cross cultural exchange programmes in the UAE.
“We are hosting the festival [this year] together with UAE’s Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development. We hope that visitors will see not only the diverse aspects of Korean culture, but also the harmony, which can only be present when we understand and accept each other,” said Park Kang-ho, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the UAE.
“I hope Korea Festival 2017 could deliver dynamic motions of Korea to the people in the UAE. Korea is on the opposite side of the world from the UAE, and it still might be a country that is too far, both geographically and culturally, to some people. What we present at the festival will be a very small part of our country, but I hope it could be a breakthrough for those who are still not familiar with Korea and its culture,” he added.
Most events will be held at the National Theatre. However, some will be held at the Korean Cultural Centre and Abu Dhabi Theatre — Breakwater.
Kang-ho said the events will cover dance, music, art, as well as Korean cuisine known as Kimchi.
“Korea Festival 2017 will feature four main performances with the theme of ‘K-Culture in Motion’, a contemporary dance performance, a non-verbal musical, and a couple of children’s musicals.
“Along with those, there will be an art exhibition where Korean and Emirati artists will put their works together, a hologram show, Kimchi master classes, and the annual Korean speech contest,” he added.
“All the performers’ teams and even the Kimchi master are coming all the way from Korea,” he said.
Kang-ho also spoke about extending the festival to one month, saying the centre wanted to give the public more time this year to enjoy the number of planned events.
“This year, we have spread the events so that people can have something to enjoy for the whole month. We have tried to focus more on children and family this year, so we have two children’s musicals that are educational and entertaining for our young generation,” he said.
Kang-ho said the festival was expecting a large turnout to their events this year, with more than 11,000 people attending the festival last year.
“Last year, we had a couple of days of the festival at Abu Dhabi Corniche which, gathered a really huge crowd. Since this year’s festival is in a closed venue, the total visitors will be limited to the venues’ capacity, which is also big. We are still expecting thousands of visitors, especially from children,” he said.
Korea Festival 2017
When: October 25 to November 24
Where: National Theatre, Abu Dhabi, some events will also take place in Al Ain, Dubai, and Sharjah. For full listings, visit http://uae.korean-culture.org
