The festival is a chance to introduce a variety of aspects of Korean culture, including traditional music, dances, cuisines and forms of entertainment, such as folk games.
The three-day festival, starting on November 11, features the ROK’s UKISS boy band, Laboum girl band, trot music singer Pyeon Seung-yeop and Vietnamese-Korean Hari Won. The artists will perform at 7pm on the festival’s opening night.
UKISS is an A-listed band with seven members. It was set up in 2008. UKISS stands for Ubiquitous Korean Idol Super Star. Its members are also solo entertainers, acting in various dramas and musicals and hosting various reality-variety shows.
At a recent press conference, the organisers of the festival said that the band had 10,000 Vietnamese fans.
The six-member Laboum band was set up in 2014 and made its music debut with a single album, “Petit Macaron.”
Besides K-pop music, the organisers of the festival also aim to introduce trot music, which is considered the original form of Korean pop music by Vietnamese audiences. The trot music will be performed by veteran singer Pyeon, who is known in the ROK for his first single entitled “Chan Chan Chan.”
Vietnamese A-listed pop singer My Linh will perform at the festival this year with other emerging Vietnamese artists such as Tien Tien and Nhat Thuy.
Despite performing as a sideline activity, Ionah will be the most anticipated show at the festival. It is regarded by international audiences as Viet Nam’s “Cirque du Soleil.”
The Korean Culture and Food Festival is being held by the ROK Embassy in Vietnam in collaboration with Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the ROK Project on International Agriculture, the ROK Agricultural Products Distribution Corporation and the Korean Cultural Centre.
“After seven consecutive successful festivals, the 2016 Korean Culture and Food Festival will be on a larger scale and include more activities luring more Vietnamese, Korean and foreign people," said the embassy’s representative. “The festival will be a chance for Korean entrepreneurs in Vietnam to popularise their products to local consumers."”
About 100 Korean restaurants in Hanoi and 40 entrepreneurs will introduce their specialties. Recreational activities will include folk games, outdoor films and K-pop flashmobs. Korean drama fans will be able to take photos with figures of their beloved characters, wearing the traditional hanbok.
Attractive prizes will be raffled, including a car, motorcyle, LCD TV and more.
Last year the festival drew about 90,000 visitors.
