Normally, Greensboro residents would need to fly for 18 hours and spend at least $1,500 to see Korea first hand, however, next month they’ll be able to see the country quickly and easily at Greensboro’s Center City Park.
On Saturday, April 27, the 2019 NC Korean Festival will take place at the park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event, sponsored by the Korean-American Association of Greater Greensboro and Center City Park at Greensboro Downtown Parks Inc., will feature K-Pop song and dance acts and other Korean music. It will also include plenty of Korean art, merchandise and games – and, of course, lots and lots of Korean food.
The event promises to be very popular: Already, a full month before it takes place, on the Facebook page for the event, over 600 people have listed themselves as attending and over 7,000 have noted themselves as interested in going. The festival is looking for sponsors and food vendors and also taking suggestions as to which acts should be brought in to perform. (The Rhino Times suggests Apink but realizes that might be cost-prohibitive.)
Some current sponsors include Consulate General of Korea in Atlanta & Overseas Korean Foundation, Korean BBQ and Seoul Garden.
Downtown Greensboro was the scene of a Korean Festival in 2017, however, the popular event wasn’t held last year.
This year, and in recent years, there’s been a lot of attention focused on both North Korea and South Korea, as President Trump has attempted to work out a security agreement with North Korea and as South Korean culture in the form of K-Pop and K-dramas has become more and more popular in America in what’s known as the Korean Wave or Hallyu – currently a global phenomenon.