By Honorary Reporter Marianna Szucs from Hungary
Photos = Marianna Szucs & Nilza Laura Da Vera Cruz Anibal

The inaugural Korea Now Festival was held on June 10 in the heart of London as part of the International K-Tourism Roadshow to promote Visit Korea Year 2023-24 and the 140th anniversary of bilateral ties between Korea and the UK.

Jointly hosted by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the London office of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the free event took place at Outernet, the city's entertainment district. Right next to the complex, St. Giles Square hosted the market featuring replicas of the pojangmacha (street food kiosk), which focused on information on Korean travel, food and drinks, music, art and beauty. 

This was the first Korean-themed outdoor event I attended this year. The festival had four main sections: travel, food, music and art. 

Travel 
As part of the tourism roadshow, the travel booths provided useful information for a short or long holiday in Korea centered on traditional culture and arts, K-pop, Seoul or other parts of the country. The event's official website (www.koreanow.london) even offered 100 amazing tips for every need and interest.

While browsing, we also received freebies like brochures, maps, tote bags, cute keychains and Korea-themed luggage tags. Those lucky to arrive around the opening received a gat, a traditional men's hat.

To promote Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, a competition was held whose grand prize was an 11-day "Highlights of Korea" trip for two. 

The booths on Korean travel have a lot of information and tips. (Marianna Szucs)

Food
Everyone could find something that suited their taste buds at the food stalls, with me trying the street food omelet sandwich for the first time. It did not disappoint. The Korean fried chicken was also super scrumptious and the mango bingsu (traditional shaved ice) proved to be a godsend in the boiling hot weather.

Among the array of free food samples on offer, I liked the traditional rice cake songpyeon with sesame filling while my friend liked yakgwa (traditional honey cookie) and mandu (dumplings).

The food and drink stalls offer a variety of delicious choices. (Marianna Szucs)

Music
Live performances were done by the world-renowned Muto, a band fusing traditional and contemporary music, and complemented by creative visual presentations. I searched for more information about the artists who performed in the festival after it ended.

Another anticipated event was a BTS flash mob dance performance. The choreography was done to a medley of the boy band's most significant and popular songs. Outernet turned purple, the official color of BTS and its fan community Army, while displaying a billboard dedicated to the 10th anniversary of BTS' debut, which fell on June 13. 

The music and dance performances are among the highlights of the festival. (Nilza Laura Da Vera Cruz Anibal and Marianna Szucs)

Art 
Throughout the event, works by artists 2Grey, Lee Lee-nam, Lim Chang-min and Studio Artech were shown on the LED screens. These innovative and colorful displays attracted numerous visitors and thousands of photos and videos were taken. 

The tent dedicated to Daehakro, Seoul's leading theater street, had information about fine and performing arts events at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest festival for performing arts. To mark the 140th anniversary of Korea-British relations this year, the latter will showcase the best Korean acts in its history.

Video presentations feature beautiful Korean landscapes and art. (Marianna Szucs)

Beauty

A tent offered a wide range of Korean beauty products as well as workshops and demonstrations. 

A speaker shared useful and interesting information about Korean beauty trends, like using a minimal amount of foundation and make-up in hot weather. During a Q&A session, she showed how the color of the foundation body stick can quickly adjust to skin color and tone. I learned about personal color based on the seasons, something many had not heard of before, and the speaker even asked the audience's opinions about which season's color scheme best fit her skin tone. 

The workshop and booth featuring Korean beauty prove extremely popular at the festival. (Marianna Szucs)

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things.