Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Seoul's palaces welcome autumn with K-Royal Culture Festival
Festivalgoers visit Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul during the spring edition of K-Royal Culture Festival in April. The Fall K-Royal Culture Festival will run from Oct. 13 to 18 across the four Joseon-era palaces in Seoul, mainly at Gyeongbok Palace and Changgyeong Palace. Yonhap
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The vivid colors of fall will soon adorn the palaces of Seoul, providing a majestic backdrop for the 2023 Fall K-Royal Culture Festival, combining history, art and natural beauty.
Hosted by the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center under the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, the festival will unfold across four major palaces in Seoul ― Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace, Deoksu Palace and Changgyeong Palace ― from Oct. 13 to 18.
The festival, which started in 2014, has emerged as the country's largest cultural heritage festival, offering a variety of traditional performances and hands-on experiences against the backdrop of royal palaces of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty.
This fall's edition will offer a different experience through a series of programs tailored to showcase the palaces in the ambiance of autumn with an emphasis on Gyeongbok and Changgyeong palaces.
The storied history of Gyeongbok Palace, the primary royal residence during the Joseon Dynasty, will come to life through "pansori," a form of traditional Korean storytelling opera, at the palace's Heungbokjeon Hall on Oct. 13 and 14 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, Jipokjae Hall of the palace will serve as the stage for evening performances featuring "artists who loved royal palaces." On Oct. 17 at 7 p.m., fusion band Second Moon will collaborate with pansori vocalists Kim Jun-su and Kim Mu-bin, as well as jeongga (traditional Korean vocal music) singer Ha Yoon-ju. On the following evening, Korean-Japanese pianist and composer Yang Bang-ean will fill the hall with musical delights.
Gyeongbok Palace's Sujeongjeon Hall will open up for emerging classical and traditional Korean musicians to showcase their talent on Oct. 13-14 at 3 p.m.
Earlier in the year, the Spring K-Royal Culture Festival drew an estimated 383,000 attendees while celebrating the 40th anniversary of the restoration of Changgyeong Palace's original name. The palace had been converted into a zoo during the Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, but was restored and its name reinstated in 1983. That slice of history will be on display in the fall festival through a photo exhibition at Hwangyeongjeon Hall of Changgyeong Palace.
At Tongmyeongjeon Hall of the palace, lectures on the royal lifestyle and the significance of the palace's returned name of Changgyeong will be held on Oct. 16-17, by renowned history lecturer Choi Tae-seong and storyteller Sun Kim, respectively.
Smaller events and games will take place at Gyeongbok Palace's Jipgyeongdang Hall and Changgyeong Palace's Gyeongchunjeon Hall, facilitated by volunteers.
The festival extends its reach online as well. The popular "Genre Painting for All" feature, allowing participants to create their own Joseon-era style characters online, returns this year and an audio guide for Gyeongbok Palace is also available.