Korean Blog

It’s still not too late to attend the various festivals that take place in South Korea. The Yangyang Songi Festival (양양송이축제) will begin the 29^th of September and will take place in Yangyang County in Gangwon Province (강원도). The Yangyang Songi Festival is a pine mushroom festival that features pine mushroom taste testing booths, pine mushroom scavenger hunts and much more.

Chungju World Martial Arts Festival (충주세게무술축제) is a festival that features all the different forms of martial arts from all over the world. The Festival will last until the eighth of September and will take place in Chungju City in Chungcheonbuk Province (충청북도). There will be martial arts demonstrations by noted experts and even a station where kids can copy some basic martial arts moves.

The Jeonju International Sori Festival (전주세계소리축제) will begin the 30^th of September in Jeonju City in Jeollabuk Province (전라북도) is a music festival with the main focus on traditional Korean music called Pansori (판소리). There’s a clip of a pansori performance at last year’s Jeonju International Sori Festival.

The Seoul Drum Festival (서울드럼페스티벌) will last until the 24^th of September in the capital city of Seoul. The Seoul Drum Festival will feature drum players from around the world (including Korean percussionists) in various performances. There will be an international amateur percussion competition, a percussion instrument exhibition and a workshop where kids can practice their drumming skills.

There are several Korean mask dances that are considered important intangible cultural properties because they represent Korean culture and history. The Yangju byeolsandae nori (양주별산대놀이) is a mask dance that is Intangible Cultural Property #2. The dance is from the Yangju Region and is known throughout Gyeonggi Province (경기도). Korean mask dances like this one include performers who wear masks and recite dialogues in addition to performing dances.

The Tongyeong ogwandae (통영오광대) is a mask dance that is from the Tongyeong Region and is known throughout Gyeongsangnam Province (경상남도). The Tongyeong mask dance like other mask dances, are funny satires about the greed and arrogance of the yangban (양반) class. The yangban class consisted of nobles and the mask dances often portray these nobles in a negative light with humor. In a way these mask dances were a medium through which the lower classes could get their ‘revenge’ upon the nobles.

The Dongnae yaryu (동래야류) is a mask dance from the Dongnae Yaryu region known throughout the Busan (부산) area. Like many of the mask dances, the Dongnae Yaryu depicted all classes from society from slaves to nobles and was an outdoor type of play where large audiences were entertained on an informal stage. The dialogues of this type of mask dance were often improvised on the spot, especially when interacting with the audience.