KORUS Festival this weekend
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| KORUS organizers and volunteers at the Korean American Association in Annandale |
The ninth Annual KORUS Festival, Oct. 21-23 in Fairfax, promises to be bigger and better than ever. The festival features K-Pop performances, martial arts demonstrations, cultural entertainment, and lots of food.
This will be the first time the annual celebration of Korean culture, which draws tens of thousands of people from the entire D.C. region, won’t be in Annandale.
After the owners of the Kmart refused to let the 2011 KORUS Festival take place at its parking lot, the Annandale-based Korean American Association of the Washington Metropolitan Area had hoped to find another suitable location in Annandale, the heart of the region’s Korean community.
They were disappointed at not being able to do so, but are pleased about the festival’s new venue—the much roomier parking lot at the Fairfax Corners Shopping Center, near the Fairfax County government complex. There will be a shuttle bus from the Vienna Metro station.
Among the performers will be DJ Koo from Korea, “the Techtonic DJ”; Connexion Z, Korea’s Extreme Performance Team, mixing martial arts and b-boy elements; Lyrick; Sick Boy; Rooftop Pursuit; Balock; and Tamara Kim. Also on the line-up: KollaborationDC superstars, including Lumi Bustamente, the 2011 first-place winner of the region’s top Asian American talent competition. In addition, organizers promise a surprise performer from “America’s Got Talent.”
Friday night is singles’ night, Saturday is silver day and family night, and Sunday is culture day, which will showcase performances from Bolivia, the Philippines, China, and Vietnam, as well as Korea.
People of all ages and all cultures have been invited to participate in a talent show sponsored by Korea Daily on Friday, 8-9:30 p.m. The first-place prize is $1,000.
On Saturday, 8:30 p.m., there is a song contest open to anyone 25 and older, and Sunday afternoon, there will be song contests for youths under 25. Both contests are sponsored by Korea Times, and the top prizes are a pair of round-trip tickets to Korea.
For more information about the contests, contact David Moon, 703/589-8930.
