Thousands expected in Annandale this weekend for KORUS Festival

The festival, extending from Friday evening through Sunday evening, is being organized by the Korean American Association of the Washington Metropolitan Area. It is designed to bring together Koreans and local communities in the region to celebrate “the dynamic and harmonious relationship between Koreans and all Americans.” The name KORUS is a combination of Korea and U.S.

There will be an all-ages talent show, Friday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. The first-place winner will receive $1,000, and the second and third-place winners will receive airline tickets from the Top Travel Agency. On Sunday, there will be a Star Search singing and dancing competition for teens. Both events are sponsored by Korea Times.

Kyung Jun is taking a break from her other activities—she runs a hair salon and is president of the Jeju Association, representing people from the Korean island of Jeju—to work on coordinating the KORUS Festival. She says the festival almost didn’t happen this year because of complaints about noise at last year’s event. This might be the last time KORUS is held in the Kmart parking lot. Next year, she says, it’s possible the festival could move to another location, such as the Wakefield RECenter or Centreville, which is replacing Annandale as the center of the Korean community in the D.C. metro area.