Korea In Motion Festival

The Korea in Motion Festival starts June 1st in Seoul and features such diverse events as the World Breakdancing Championships with the renowned Soul Mavericks Crew representing the UK as well as the World Taekwondo Championships.

This summer, a large-scale non-verbal festival will be taking place in Korea. “Non-verbal body movements, more powerful than words” is this summer’s theme entitled, ‘KOREA in MOTION’.

The object of the festival is to overcome language barriers that separate races by expressing oneself through non-verbal art forms through dance, music, and mime. From June to July, this 2-month event will be collaborating with the world’s best B-Boys in the ‘B-Boy Masters Championship’. A total of 16 B-Boy teams from all around the world will be competing in the two-day competition beginning June 1.

The winners of this championship will then perform with a famous “Korean-wave” star in a special concert for their fans.The Cheonggyecheon Graffiti Festival is a program overflowing with originality and passion. The wild and free nature of graffiti is a fierce type of art form that the younger generation use to break out of society’s confinements by expressing themselves to the world.

Cheonggyecheon, the newest city attraction, will be the location for the graffiti festival, which is set in the heart of Seoul. Attendees will also have the opportunity to experience Korea’s Taekwondo firsthand, mainly aimed at the interest of foreigners. The Taekwondo Cultural Exhibition Performances will take place twice a week and allow foreigners to experience a variety of programs three times a day excluding Mondays. The World Taekwondo Headquarters, located at Seoul’s Gyeonghuigung Palace, will also be handing out Taekwondo Federation training licenses to the credited participants.

The 1st International Taekwondo Cultural Expo will take place from June 25 - June 29, and the 2007 Taekwondo Championships will be from June 29 – July 4.The ‘KOREA in MOTION’ festival is a unique opportunity for people to see Korea’s top non-verbal performances. Some of the non-verbal performances will include dramas and music to start a new Korean wave of leading stars.

During the festival, a great variety of performances will be offered to attendees: a musical filled with the passionately pleasant melodies of the Ta-ak ‘Nanta’, a rock musical that addresses some contemporary society problems in ‘Subway Line 1’, and a performance encompassing all of Asia’s martial arts ‘Jump’.

If you are looking to further immerse yourself in Korea’s traditional culture, try seeing ‘The Traditional Arts Stage’, a performance highlighting the four major art genres of Korea: dance, instrumental music, Sori (type of folk songs), and Ta-ak. Attendees can receive a 20% discount when attending the seven representative non-verbal performances during the festival period.

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) is planning on running a number of online events, and mailing out free tickets through its website (tour2korea.com), on a first come first serve basis.This festival will include lively, and energetic cultural events, with the hopes of marketing Korea’s new tourism brand name, ‘Korea, Sparkling’.

For programme of events go Tour2korea.com.