Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Bucheon, Busan to bring comic culture to life with autumn festivals
Visitors take part in the 27th Bucheon International Comics Festival at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, in October 2024. This year’s festival will be held from Friday to Sunday. Courtesy of the organizer
By Baek Byung-yeul
As September wraps up, two festivals will celebrate comics culture in Bucheon and Busan. Both festivals feature programs for fans and professionals alike, showcasing the creative energy and cultural impact of the industry.
The Bucheon International Comics Festival (BICOF), will run from Friday to Sunday at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. Designed as a family-friendly event, the nation’s leading comics festival has diverse programs to engage visitors of all ages.
The festivities begin with the outdoor BICOF comic cafe, where visitors can browse a curated library of over 1,000 comic books while enjoying live indie band performances and webtoon soundtrack concerts. The food truck zone will be twice the size of last year’s to offer a wide array of local specialties.
A special highlight for families will be on Saturday evening, when the animated film “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” will be screened at the Korean Manhwa Museum for free. This event is expected to make the festival even more family-friendly and popular with the community, organizers said.
The three-day festival is packed with exhibitions, author signings and discussions, a global cosplay championship, interactive events and a marketplace. Visitors can check the official festival website for a detailed schedule, which also includes artist meet-and-greets, live busking and hands-on comic-themed activities.
“Our goal was to design a festival where families and citizens can laugh and celebrate together,” Baek Jong-hoon, president of the Korea Manhwa Content Agency. “Visitors to BICOF will have a great time enjoying comics and webtoons and also great food, performances and screenings."
Meanwhile, the southern port city of Busan will hold the ninth Busan Global Webtoon Festival from Thursday to Sunday at Sohyang Theater Shinhan Card Hall and the Busan Cultural Content Complex in Haeundae, Busan’s famed beach district.
Busan Global Webtune Festival has brought together webtoon creators and fans since its debut in 2017. This year, over 190 domestic and international comic artists will gather, featuring new media releases and interactive programs that foster direct exchanges between the public and industry professionals.
A highlight includes local creators presenting new works for live critique and audience engagement, with representatives from the webtoon and film industries facilitating discussions. The festival also offers an expansive webtoon exhibition featuring more than 800 works and preview talks to spotlight new content.
On the business side, the festival also serves as a crucial platform for industry collaboration. Through meetings, it connects webtoon companies and creators from Korea and abroad to explore partnership and commercialization opportunities, an especially timely event as global attention turns to the city during the Busan International Film Festival, one of Asia’s most influential.
This year, the focus on global collaboration is particularly strong. Companies from Taiwan, Japan and Italy will present their business plans and students from Taiwan will share insights from their collaborative training with creators through a Webtoon Masterclass program, fostering international exchange.