2023 Spring K-royal culture festival to be held across five palaces in Seoul

▲ This image, provided by Cultural Heritage Administration(CHA) shows a event poster of 2023 K-Royal Culture Festival.

2023 Spring K-Royal Culture Festival to be Held Across five Palaces in Seoul

By Jeongbin Park

SEOUL, April 20 (K-odyssey) -- The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center(Head Jeong Seong-Jo) at the Cultural Heritage Administration(CHA) and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation(President Choi Young-chang) will host the 2023 Spring K-Royal Culture Festival for nine days from April 29 until May 7 at five palaces located within Seoul (Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung, and Gyeonghuigung Palaces), Jongmyo, and Sajikdan.

The K-Royal Culture Festival is the largest cultural heritage festival in Korea, which has presented a variety of traditional culture contents across beautiful palaces. Last year, the festival attracted 1.36 million visitors in both spring and fall combined. This year, the festival is expected to attract even more visitors as the regulations regarding the COVID 19 has been uplifted.

The Festival will kick off with a wonderful opening ceremony on April 28, at Heungnyemun Square in Gyeongbokgung Palace. On the day of the opening, Commemorative Parade for the 40th Anniversary of ChanggyeonggungPalace’s Returned Name will be held for 40 minutes from 2:00 p.m, around Changgyeonggung Palace.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Heungnyemun Square in Gyeongbokgung Palace. The performance will feature a modern interpretation of traditional dances, such as the fan dance and cheoyongmu dance. It will be followed by a performance done by national children’s choir, and a thematic performance by the cast of Palace Musical: , one of the programs on offer during the festival. The festival’s opening ceremony will end with a performance by La Poem, a male crossover vocal group.

During the festival, various performances, exhibitions and experimental programs will take place. The signature program of the K-Royal Culture Festival is which will take place at Changgyeonggung Palace. The program is planned to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Changgyeonggung Palace’s returned name as an audience interactive program where participants can take part in a reenactment of King Yeongjo’s 50th birthday.

Participants selected from pre-event applications will be allowed to participate in the reenactment and experience each steps during the preparation process of the royal festival. The event will be held for five days from May 2 to May 6.

On May 2, a historical reenactment regarding the story of King Yeongjo’s 50th Birthday Ceremony, will be performed. Duration of the reenactment is expected to be 80 minutes per session and it will be performed twice a day, and those who book the reenactment earlier will be able to watch the reenactment via the receiver as they move around Changgyeonggung Palace. The reenactment will also be live-streamed on Official Instagram of K-Royal Culture Festival.

From May 3 to 5, New Court Members (180 participants per day) selected from pre-event applications in the program will participate in food, painting, and dance experiences to prepare for King Yeongjo’s 50th Birthday Ceremony. After the experiences, they will learn pogurak, a court dance performed during the reign of King Munjong of the Goryeo Dynasty, and watch traditional performances.

Furthermore, Yeongchunheon Hall in Changgyeonggung Palace will provide a court clothing experience program where visitors can try on the various clothing often worn by the court characters through AR technologies.

There are also many things to see in Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, and Deoksugung Palaces. In Gyeongbokgung Palace Palace Musical: , a four-day performance will be held from April 29 to May 2. This event is an RSVP event so thoese willing to participate will need to book the event prior to those set dates. From May 5 until, May 7, the program Children’s K-Royal Culture Festival, which consists of a various experiences such as Children’s Gwageo Exam (traditional civil service exam) and Palace True or False Quiz, will take place for visiting families to celebrate Children’s Day. Around Sujeongjeon Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace, performers across different fields including new gugak artists, crossover bands, and classical musicians, will participate in a performance called from May 3 until May 7. In particular, on May 7, a special performance featuring cellist Yang Sung-won will be held in connection with the night tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

In Changdeokgung Palace, , a travelling theater play based on various novels stored in Nakseonjae Hall, will continue on for four days from April 30 until May 3. This event will also require visitors to book the ticket prior to the actual date of the event.

In Deoksugung Palace, there will be a performance called , featuring famous artists, starting at 7:30 p.m. on May 5 and will continue on until May 7. Free performances are also to be held near Junghwajeon Hall in Deoksugung Palace. On the first day, Yang Bang-ean’s Band will take the stage, followed by crossover band 2nd Moon and Kim Jun-su, Ha Yun-juand Kim Moo-bin on the second day, composer and pianist Yiruma on the third day.

The advance booking for various events are available through the Ticketlink website. (www.ticketlink.co.kr). Furthermore, the special ticket Palace Pass, which allows unlimited visits to the five palaces during the festival, will be available for 10 thosand won. The number of tickets will be limited to 1,000.

During the festival, Palace Parade Performance, which features pangut (Korean folk music), will be showcased in all five of the palaces. It will take place on April 28 in Changgyeonggung Palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace on April 29, Changdeokgung Palace on April 30, Gyeonghuigung Palace on May 5, and Deoksugung Palace on May 6. Oprating hours are different for each palaces.

For more information and the detailed schedules of the 2023 Spring K-Royal Culture Festival, check out the various websites such as the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center in the Cultural Heritage Administration (royal.cha.go.kr), Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation (www.chf.or.kr), K-Royal Culture Festival (www.chf.or.kr/fest), and the official Instagram account of K-Royal Culture Festival(@royalculturefestival_official), or one can call the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center Program Call Center at ☎1522-2295 for more information.

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