Diplomacy Journal Lee Jung-Ha journalists
The 50th Los Angeles Korean Festival for 2023 will be held on October 12th-15th in Los Angeles, CA.
This is a festival which is organized by the Korean community in Los Angeles and participated by many people of various nationalities in the city of LA. The Los Angeles Korean Festival is considered a symbol of thriving Korean communities in the United States, widely known for hard work, honesty and love for their adopting country and people.
▲ Chairman Kim Jun-bae of the Organizing Committee of the Korean Festival in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Korean Immigration to the United States
In 1974, the Los Angeles Korean Festival Foundation was founded by the leaders of the early Korean-American community with the purpose of preserving their Korean roots after immigrating to the United States.
In the great city of Los Angeles, where many diverse cultures co-exist, the Los Angeles Korean Festival Foundation is considered one of the major advocates of furthering the knowledge of Korean culture and its traditions. The LAKF Foundation works year-round in organizing the four-day festival to carry out the mission of providing the community with a festival that is an instrument of inclusivity and an advocate of cultural diversity awareness, providing not only the Korean cultural heritage but also bringing together the numerous ethnic groups residing in Los Angeles.
▲ Chairman Lee Jon-yong of the Diplomacy Journal stands on a leading car of the parade responding to the warm welcome of the visitors
The annual festival has evolved beyond what the founders could have imagined. The Los Angeles Korean Festival continues to provide fun and exciting experiences, through its great entertainment, food vendors, a mile-long parade and promotional exhibits from many different industries. One of the greatest additions is the Korean Premium Products Expo. Attendees that come from all over the United States, can readily acquire goods that were once difficult to come by.
The organizers say: “You are all invited, free in admission for all four days. Come, join us, and let’s celebrate together!”
Overview:
The Los Angeles Korean Festival Foundation is a non-profit organization with the specific and primary purpose of organizing and executing the community festival. The mission of the organization is to celebrate the racial diversity of Los Angeles through the sharing of Korean culture to the surrounding community. What started off as a way to celebrate and commemorate the heritage of recently immigrated Koreans continues to evolve with the changing needs of the community. The festival is used as an instrument to enrich the lives of the local community of Koreatown and all of Los Angeles through the means of cultural exchange. With over 7.5 million Koreans overseas in about 170 different areas, our festival is known to be one of the largest festivals of this scale to present guests with the traditions and customs of Korea. With an average of about 300,000 guests, we hope to embrace diversity and promote awareness. This year, we will have similar ways to promote cultural exchange, present Korean traditional foods, customs, and performances, and promote the celebration of hope in our younger generations to build a better future. At the same time, we want to integrate different types of foods that are not only "Korean"-specific.
▲ Chairman Lee Jon-yong of Diplomacy Journal (right) poses with the leaders of the Korean Community in Los Angeles.
Food:
Festival of Food--Through Your Eyes, Nose, and then Mouth!
Every festival requires food that energizes people as they walk around looking at all the attractions.
The Los Angeles Korean Festival proudly boasts exquisite food that will make your mouth water. With foods that are straight from the streets of Korea, eating Korean foods at our festival will make you feel like you’re roaming the bright streets of Korea.
LAKF also presents not only food that is loved in the streets of Korea but foods that are enjoyed by everyone throughout the world.
Come and enjoy a new food experience: ranging from the taste of mom’s Korean-style pancake, to the spicy flavors of a Korean rice cake, to craving-inducing Korean BBQ to the iconic shape of a tornado potato, together with Korean infused foods from around the world.
Tempting foods that are a feast for the artistic eye along with mouth-watering aromas that will captivate all five of your sense.
If you aren’t feeling a huge meal there are numerous snack vendors. Whatever you are looking for, you can find it at the Los Angeles Korean Festival.
Come and try all of these flavors to satisfy your taste buds!
Street Food of Memories:
You may come across food flavors that you have never tried before and cannot be found anywhere else then at LA Korean Festival. Bring your family, or come with friends, and experience traditional Korean street food or trendy fusion dishes!
▲ Women performers move on a front car leading the parade.
Taste of the longing homeland:
The organizers encourage: “Come taste and take home fresh and high-quality agricultural products that represent the unique flavors of the 8 provinces of Korea. We present local specialty foods for residents that have left their homeland and long for the taste of their hometown. Enjoy the taste of our homeland!”
Experience:
Korea is renowned for their distinct cuisine, particularly their health foods. A diverse arrangement of high-quality prepared products, such as health drinks and medicinal herbs are also available for purchase at the festival.
Shopping:
Festival of shopping, the Korean shopping experience.
The Los Angeles Korean Festival is a one-stop shopping destination where you can find unique local and Korean regional premium products. Featuring Korean products that are even hard to get a hold of in Koreatown, the Los Angeles Korean Festival provides vendors that bring products straight from Korea.
Beautiful lanterns from the Korean province of Jinju welcome over 500 vendors and 400,000 shoppers at a festival that is nothing short of amazing.
Charmingly made booths that consist of automobile, cosmetics, casinos, and many more local vendors participate to market their brand and sell their exclusive products. We also have beautiful and tasty products from our local Angelinos who know how to cater to us.
▲ A sign indicating the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles Korean Festival on Oct. 12-15, 2023.
Korean Agricultural Exposition (Expo):
Vendors from all over the Republic of Korea (south), come to sell their homeland products. Being in Los Angeles, the Korean people are mostly exposed to products that come from Seoul, but during the expo people can truly taste well-known local products from various cities in Korea.
With over 120 different companies from 8 provinces in Korea, come to join the Festival, Angelinos get the opportunity to taste foods and buy goods straight from Korea!
Korean toys and premium products expo:
Like Korean Agricultural products, many shoppers scour online to find products with cult followings through social media whether cosmetics, kitchen products, home goods, and other unique products. This year, there will be 40 booths that you can find in Korea will be dedicated within the heart of our festival. The newly organized KTEx allows shoppers to see products first-hand from Korea without the struggle of depending on family and friends to ship them over from Korea.
▲ Honor guards and military personnel, many of them members of Marine Corps, lead the parade with the flags of Korea and the United States.
Festival performances, Hallyu, the Korean Wave:
On a glamorous stage in the heart of the festival, Korean traditional cultural performances,
Korean celebrity shows, and a variety of fun programs will be presented.
As Los Angeles Korean Festival pursues both following new trends and keeping tradition alive at the same time, this aspect of the festival draws a diverse crowd in both age and ethnicity while the makeup of the stage brings pleasure to all of the audience during the festival.
Through the power of Hallyu (Korean Ways or the Korean Wave), the organizes hope that LAKF attendees can now enjoy the festivities and performances that are spreading from Korea to the world.
The organizers plan on creating an enjoyable and memorable time for everyone to come and enjoy the renowned performances on our fabulous stage!
Representative Cultural Performances:
The highlight of the performances are easily the ones of historical class, like tightrope walking, fan dancing, and Korean drums.
Teams of that represent Korean culture put on shows that cannot be seen easily outside of the Los Angeles Korean Festival.
In the past, the festival has been graced by the wonderful presence of reputable groups such as the Ansan City Korean Traditional Orchestra, Tongpyeong Mask Dance, World Taekwondo Headquarters (Kukkiwon), and the Taekwondo Association.
▲ The slogan on the front of the leading parade car reads: “Good people make it!” What do they make? It is Taeyangcho Gochujang, hot pepper sauce made with naturally grown pepper plants.
7080 Program for the middle-aged:
The 7080 generation is marked by a period of a difficult social atmosphere in which Koreans used music to flee into romanticism.
A designated room has been prepared for the enjoyment of both pop and folk music, refreshing beer and acoustic guitars, to create a reminiscent, nostalgic and supportive environment.
It is a great moment to pause and celebrate with entertainers of that time like singers and songstresses such as Hyun Sook, Kim Heung-Gook, Yoon Hang-Gi, Juk Woo, Shin Seung-Woo, Ju Hyun-Mi, and other celebrities.
K-POP Hallyu:
The all-encompassing term referring to Korean pop culture from K-pop, K-dramas, K-movies, etc. has been on the rise.
K-pop started the wave and continues to sweep the world with artists like BTS, Black Pink, Epik High, etc.
The LA Korean Festival has a long record of performances by JYP, Rain, Wonder Girls, Mamamoo, Georgia, Vasco, and Ulala Session, and many festival attendees look forward to the performances at the Los Angeles Korean Festival. A detailed stage performance schedule for this year will be updated in the near future.
▲ Traditional Korean folk dance performers are sounding Korean Janggo drums welcoming the Korean residents’ parade in Los Angeles.
Festival of Experience:
A New Experience through the Lens of Traditional Korean Culture. Korea’s representative traditional beauty attire is the HANBOK.
Wear it and take composite images amongst the backdrop of breathtaking Korean structures and views.
Share these amazing moments and experiences with the people you treasure the most.
Further, come and learn how to make a Korean lotus flower, craft a turtle ship, play traditional Korean games, and much more.
Through these fun-filled activities, the visitors can experience an extraordinary Korean cultural life.
The organizers also provide a Korean traditional festival as amusement.
The visitors can play and sing traditional songs with a large gong [Jing], a small gong [Kkwaenggwari], middle waist drum [Janggu], small handle drum [Sogo], and many more Korean instruments to teach the visitors about ancient Korean ancestor spirits.
In addition, the organizers provide a variety of Korean cultures and customs to allow foreigners who come to create meaningful and exciting memories.
Histortical Wall:
A 100ft long wall stands tall in the middle of the festival, proudly showcasing the history of Korea. This wall also includes the history of Korean-Americans and Koreatown, Los Angeles and how the early leaders of the community laid down their Korean roots and obtained their current status.
Traditional Korean Dolls:
The visitors are encouraged to come and see the display of the colorful dolls wearing traditional Korean hanbok, and to have an unforgettable time taking beautiful photos with precious people with the colorful dolls!
▲ Photo shows the procession route of the Korean parade marking the 50th anniversary of Korean immigration to Los Angeles
Experience the throwback:
Korean traditional attire is called Hanbok. Here at the Los Angeles Korean Festival, the visitors have an opportunity to adorn themselves and take composite images in front of breathtaking backdrops of Korean structures and sites. They are invited to share these amazing moments and experiences with the people they treasure the most.
Experience of paper craft:
The visitors are encouraged to learn the art of paper craft by joining the organizers to learn how to make a Korean lotus flower, craft a turtle ship, write Korean calligraphy and much more. “Learn and experience Korean culture through these fun-filled activities,” the visitors are encouraged.
Festival of Experience:
A New Experience through the Lens of Traditional Korean Culture
Korea’s representative traditional beauty attire is the Hanbok.
The guests are encouraged to wear it and take composite images amongst the backdrop of breathtaking Korean structures and views.
The organizers say: Share these amazing moments and experiences with the people you treasure the most. Further, come and learn how to make a Korean lotus flower, craft a turtle ship, play traditional Korean games, and much more.
