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K-Royal Culture Festival to run for 9 days in April

Published: 05 Mar. 2025, 15:42 Updated: 05 Mar. 2025, 21:19

LEE JIAN
[email protected]

Visitors to the 2024 Autumn K-Royal Culture Festival watch a lights show at Changgyeong Palace in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Oct. 9, 2024. [YONHAP]

The biannual K-Royal Culture Festival is set to kick off in April with three new appointed directors helming performances and exhibitions around Korea's ancient palaces, the host Korea Heritage Agency (KHA) announced Wednesday.

The K-Royal Culture Festival is an immersive cultural event taking place across Seoul's Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace, Changgyeong Palace, Deoksu Palace, Gyeonghui Palace and Jongmyo. The festival was founded in 2014 and is held every spring and autumn.

This spring, it is slated to run for nine days, from April 25 to May 4.

Children performers participate in the 2024 Spring K-Royal Culture Festival at Changgyeong Palace in Jongno District, central Seoul, on May 1, 2024. [YONHAP]

Koh Sun-woong, best known for directing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, will direct the opening ceremony of the upcoming K-Royal Culture Festival at Gyeongbok Palace.

The main theme of the event will be flowers, which will be used as a metaphor for the fruit of overcoming humanity's adversities, said the KHA.

Performers reenact a scene from the Joseon Dynasty during the 2024 Autumn K-Royal Culture Festival at the Gyeongbok Palace in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Oct. 12, 2024. [NEWS1]

Director Song Jae-seong will be again overseeing the immersive cultural program "Time Travel, Sejong: Daily Life in the Royal Palace" from last year. The five-day event invites visitors to go back in time to the reign of King Sejong of Joseon (1392-1910) through live performances, reenactments and exhibitions at Gyeongbok Palace.

Lee Jeong-eun, a former DDP Design Fair curator, will be helming a traditional crafts exhibition at Changgyeong Palace.

The exhibition will showcase collections by national intangible heritage holders and practitioners, as well as the works of craft artists who have bridged the gap between tradition and modernity. The exhibition will be open to the public from April 26 to May 4 without reservation.

More programs will be announced in the future, through its official website and social media, KHA said.

The upcoming K-Royal Culture Festival is also looking for volunteers. Dubbed "Goong-ee Doong-ees," they serve as guides and mascots of the festival. Volunteers get free admission to all five palaces during the festival period, among other benefits.

More information can be found on K-Royal Culture Festival's official website.

BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]