The 18th Korean Culture Festival brought together thousands of visitors in São Paulo on August 16-17, showcasing the rich traditions and contemporary culture of Korea through a comprehensive two-day celebration. The festival was jointly organized by the Brazilian Korean Association (ABC) and SG, with support from multiple organizations including the Korean Cultural Center in Brazil (CCCB), the Bom Retiro Development Committee, KOWIN (Korean Women's International Network), and the São Paulo City Hall.
The festival utilized two main venues to accommodate its extensive programming. The primary location at Praça Cel. Fernando Prestes served as the festival's heart, featuring a main stage and over 30 vendor stalls. Just a five-minute walk away, the Oswald de Andrade Building hosted specialized cultural activities and educational workshops, allowing organizers to offer both large-scale entertainment and intimate cultural experiences.
At the Oswald de Andrade Building, the festival featured several intellectual and artistic highlights. The K-Debate brought together researchers, professors from various academic fields, and Korean-Brazilian artists for discussions on Korean culture's impact and integration in Brazil. The Cultural Fair Bomre-dong, Munhwa-ro provided a marketplace where local artists, artisans, small entrepreneurs, and creators displayed and sold works inspired by Korean cultural themes.
Saturday's programming at the building included hands-on experiences with a Cooking Workshop that taught participants traditional Korean culinary techniques, and a Literary Arts Gathering (Sarau) that encouraged active audience participation through poetry, storytelling, and cultural exchange. Sunday featured a special performance by the Sejong Choir, comprised of students enrolled in the CCCB's choral singing course, demonstrating the center's educational impact on the local community.
The Korean Education Center enhanced the festival's educational mission with an informational exhibition and booth dedicated to study-abroad opportunities in South Korea. This component aimed to connect Brazilian students and young professionals with academic and cultural exchange programs, strengthening bilateral educational ties between the two countries.
Back at Praça Cel. Fernando Prestes, the main stage hosted a diverse array of artistic performances that spanned traditional and contemporary Korean culture. The lineup included The Masked Diva contest, which combined entertainment with cultural appreciation, and K-Beauty demonstrations that showcased Korean cosmetic techniques and products. Traditional elements were represented through Taekwondo performances that displayed the martial art's discipline and artistry, as well as traditional Korean dance presentations featuring authentic costumes and choreography.
The festival's contemporary appeal was highlighted by a concert performance from YOUNITE, a K-pop group that drew significant crowds and demonstrated the global reach of Korean popular music. This performance represented the modern wave of Korean cultural influence, complementing the festival's traditional cultural presentations.
Throughout the square, more than 30 vendor stalls created a vibrant marketplace atmosphere, offering visitors authentic Korean food, traditional handicrafts, calligraphy demonstrations, and hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) displays and sales. This commercial component allowed attendees to take home tangible pieces of Korean culture while supporting local Korean-Brazilian businesses and artisans who contribute to the community's cultural preservation efforts.
