The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation from Oct. 21-26 will host Hanbok Culture Week featuring programs such as Hanbok wearing, exhibitions and fashion shows.

By Lee Jihae
Photos = Korea Craft and Design Foundation

A nationwide event next week will promote Hanbok (traditional clothing), which is gaining global attention.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation on Oct. 16 announced their designation of Hanbok Culture Week from Oct. 21-26 and hosting of events such as trying on Hanbok, exhibitions and fashion shows.

An awards ceremony for six contributors to Hanbok, fashion show and congratulatory performance will start things off on Oct. 21, Hanbok Day, at Uijeongbu Historic Site Plaza in Seoul's Jongno-gu District.

Titled "Portrait of Happiness," the fashion show will feature 36 models including foreign celebrity Stefanie Michova and national figure skater Cha Jun-hwan donning Hanbok. Afterward, Holy Bang, the winning team from the 2022 dance competition show "Street Woman Fighter," will perform in Hanbok.

Other events include fashion shows, interactive programs and discussions at 360 places throughout the nation.

The Traveling Hanbok Shop Promotion Hall from Oct. 20-21 will be held on the third floor lobby of the National Assembly building in Seoul. Ten Hanbok brands will display traditional outfits and those adapted to modern daily life and work.

Visitors wearing Hanbok from Oct. 21-31 can receive discounts at private cultural facilities like half off at the indoor amusement park Lotte World and 35% off at the observatory Seoul Sky. Both places are in Seoul's Songpa-gu District.

National culture and arts institutions will also offer benefits. Branches of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in Seoul, Deoksugung Palace (Seoul), Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do Province, and Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, will offer free entry over the event period, while the National Gugak (Traditional Music) Center will offer a 50% discount on its "Saturday Gugak Concert" on Oct. 25.

Hanbok Culture Creative Spaces throughout the nation including those in Sangju, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province; Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province; Busan; and Boseong-gun County, Jeollanam-do Province, will offer Hanbok wearing programs, a market for users to exchange and rent outfits, exhibitions and rentals.

More information about the event's programs and schedule is on its official website (www.kcdf.or.kr/hanbokcultureweek/main).

Official poster for 2025 Hanbok Culture Week