Busan One Asia Festival brings together global fans

Busan One Asia Festival brings together global fans

This October, Busan will host one of the most anticipated festivals of the season.

The 2016 Busan One Asia Festival launches on Oct. 1, featuring a lineup of K-pop concerts, fan meetings, Korean food fairs, K-beauty exhibits and other special events.

The One Asia opening concert, which kicks off the festival on Oct. 1, features performances by Psy and a handful of famous K-pop idols groups like Apink, Block B, BTS and Girl's Day.

The 23-day festival will open in venues across the port city, like the Asiad Main Stadium and the BEXCO Exhibition Center. You will be able to see some of the biggest names in K-pop on stage over the course of the festival calendar.

The One Asia opening concert will kick off the festival on Oct. 1, with performances by Psy and a lineup of K-pop idol groups including A-pink, Girls' Generation, Block B, BTS and Infinite. The One Asia K-pop Concert will be held on three consecutive days, Oct. 2 to 4. Fans of K-pop will have a chance to meet some Korean celebrities at the One Asia Korean Wave Stars Fan Meeting on Oct. 8 and 9.

Chinese dance troupe Ningshasung will perform a piece based on stories told along the Silk Road at the 2016 Busan One Asia Festival on Oct. 15 and 16.

There will also be concerts by artists from Korea, China and Japan.

The One Asia Classical Festival, on Oct. 12 and 14, will showcase performances by violinist Fumiaki Miura, cellist Bion Tsang and pianist Kim Dasol, accompanied by the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra.

On Oct. 15 and 16, Chinese dance troupe Ningshasung will perform a dance drama based on stories told along the Silk Road.

Meanwhile, the One Asia Non-verbal program features performances by the Painters, a mime ensemble, as well as a cappella concerts by the group Monkey Dance.

The 2016 Busan One Asia Festival puts together a Taste Busan program, with eateries, restaurants and food trucks participating in the festival to serve regional delicacies like hotteok, or sweet pancakes with a nut filling, tteok bokki and Busan's own eomuk fishcakes.

Visitors will also get a chance to try a wide variety of regional delicacies during the festival by checking out the Taste Busan program from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3.

During the four-day food festival, star chefs like Lee Yeon-bok, Choi Hyun-seok and Oh Se-deuk will be whipping up dishes for visitors on-site. There will also be booths set up by 30 restaurants from around the country, as well as 10 food trucks serving regional dishes and popular street snacks. In another corner, the writer Lee Ho-jun, who helped the cartoonist Huh Young-man bring the comic book "Sikgaek" to life, will give lectures on how he documented the world of high-end Korean cuisine, and introduce Busan's regional dishes through stories and pictures.

On the sidelines of the main events, visitors can attend the One Asia Cultural Conference, a lecture series that will shed light on Asian cultures and the Korean Wave phenomenon. There is also the One Asia Platform, showcasing the latest high-tech games, and the One Asia Music Market, an audition program held to discover new musicians both locally and abroad. The 2016 Illumia Light Run concert will feature a dramatic light show along a 3-kilometer strip, followed by electronic music performances.

Those interested in makeup and beauty products can check out the Korean Wave Star and Beauty Collection exhibit that will provide an opportunity to learn about the latest makeup trends.

Tickets for the 2016 Busan One Asia Festival can be purchased at Hana Ticket (ticket.hanatour.com).

More information about each of the scheduled events can be found at the festival's official website.

www.bof.or.kr.

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Busan One Asia Festival
hlee10@korea.kr 

source : http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=140981