This year's Daegu International Musical Festival kicked off on June 21 to show 25 musicals from Korea, the U.K., France, the U.S., the Netherlands, China and Japan through July 8 at leading performance venues in Daegu. Shown above is the opening musical "Holiday" from France.

By Lee Jihae
Photos = Daegu International Musical Festival

This year's Daegu International Musical Festival kicked off on June 21 with a spectacular opening ceremony.

Twenty-five musicals from Korea, the U.K., France, the U.S., the Netherlands, China and Japan will be shown through July 8 at leading performance venues in Daegu.

The opening musical "Holiday" features some 20 songs by American pop music icon Madonna. Though a French work, it has the songs sung in the original English lyrics to preserve Madonna's songs in their original forms. 

The festival is the first overseas event to show this musical since its premiere in France last year.

The two musicals to close the event are "Flying Apsaras" from China and "Singing in the Rain" from the U.S. The former is about the journey of a protector of a precious mural and the latter (released in Korea under the title "Love in the Rain") is based on the 1953 American movie classic starring Gene Kelly.

The opening ceremony and a congratulatory performance on June 22 will start at 6:30 p.m. at Kolon Outdoor Music Hall.

More information on the festival schedule is available on its official website (https://dimf.or.kr/main.do).

The U.S. musical "Singing in the Rain" will be one of two works to close this year's Daegu International Musical Festival.