By Min Yea-Ji
Photos = Seoul Metropolitan Government

The Seoul Festa, a large-scale tourism festival held throughout Seoul, will be resumed on Aug. 10 for the first time in three years.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Aug. 9 said that over this year's festival period, the event will offer many things to see, do and enjoy like the annual Seoul E-Prix, the world's biggest electric car race, K-pop concerts, Seoul Shopping Festa and interactive cultural activities.

Thirteen K-pop acts including Rain, Psy, NCT Dream, Enhyphen and Stray Kids on Aug. 10 will perform at the opening ceremony in the main stadium of Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul's Songpa-gu District.

The 2022 Seoul E-Prix scheduled for Aug. 13-14 at the complex will mark Korea's first hosting of an electric car race. The low-noise, non-polluting vehicles will run at high speeds through Seoul streets in a competition of speed and technique.

The opening ceremony, Seoul E-Prix and the awards ceremony will be livestreamed on the 53 m-long media wall at Gwanghwamun Square, which was reopened on Aug. 6.

The Seoul Shopping Festa, which offers discounts of up to 50% through the participation of over 2,500 businesses including department stores, online shopping malls and hotels, will also be held for a month in August.

Water sports and festivals with movie themes will be held at Hangang River Parks, which attract large crowds in summer. The featured events include "Hangang King Canoe Water Trip" (Banpo Hangang Park), "Youth Summer Night" (Nanji), Hangang Tropical Festival (Yeouido), and "Hangang Movie Night" (Nanji, Mangwon and Yeouido).

"Royal Guard Night" will also be held in front of the traditional gates of Daehanmun at Deoksugung Palace and Sungnyemun (Namdaemun), allowing visitors to enjoy both gates along with the city nightscape. The ceremonies for patrols and changing of the guards will be held at Gwanghwamun Gate from Aug. 9-14 between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. 

A demonstration of traditional martial arts will be held at 8 p.m. daily over the same period in front of Sungnyemun.

Other performances are scheduled from Aug. 12-13 on the grass yard of Nodeulseom Island to celebrate the opening of Seoul Festa. The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on Aug. 14 will hold a large-scale outdoor performance at Gwanghwamun Square.

Choi Kyeng-ju, director general of the Tourism and Sports Bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "As this is the first face-to-face Seoul Festa in three years following a return to normal daily life after the COVID-19 pandemic, every effort has been made to restore the tourism industry and attract new tourists to Seoul."

"Through this event, we will do our best not only to reinvigorate stagnant tourism in Seoul, but also try again to create a 'high-quality global Seoul, global top five city Seoul.'"

*The names of the events in Hangang River Parks are all unofficial translations. 

jesimin@korea.kr