Every fall Korean Festival Houston welcomes around 35,000 visitors to Discovery Green for a one-day celebration of all things Korean.
And there’s one question that Kimmy Gaskins-Nunley, the vice president of marketing for the Korean-American Society of Houston, the non-profit organization behind the Korean Festival, says they hear every year: “When are you going to do two days?”
The answer is now. For the festival’s 15th anniversary, it will expand to two full days, October 12 and 13, this weekend at Discovery Green.
“We’ve almost outgrown Discovery Green because we get so many festivalgoers, so the only way to expand and still keep it right in the center of downtown was for us to go to two days,” says Gaskins-Nunley. “It’s like an outlet for us to still be able to stay there but still grow the festival.”
As the Korean Festival continues to grow, it does so with a renewed commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. Through a partnership with KultureCity, the 2024 Korean Festival also marks the first in the festival’s history to be sensory inclusive, with trained volunteers, a mobile sensory room, and several hours early each day geared toward those with sensory needs and non-visible disabilities.
“It will be a little less noise, maybe a little bit less stimulating than it would be in the peak hours of our festival days,” adds KASH President Janet Hong.
Though longtime festival host Discovery Green is ADA-friendly, for the first time, the festival has invited American Sign Language interpreters, who will be stationed by the main stage.
“We’ve learned, whether through our own family members who deal with sensory sensitivity and also our festival director, who has a son who’s autistic,” says Gaskins-Nunley. “It inspired us [to ask] how can we make the festival more accessible to people that deal with visible and invisible disabilities.”
These additions will allow even more people to participate in activities throughout the festival, like those they can find in Korean Village or K-Village, an area where visitors can immerse themselves in traditional Korean culture.
“K-Village is always a big highlight of our festival,” says Hong. “I think some people might think it’s more for the younger festivalgoers, but actually, adults thoroughly enjoy it just as much.”
A variety of mini-cultural experiences await visitors in K-Village, including arts and crafts and centuries-old Korean games. The K-Village stage will also host a K-pop showcase, see a two-time winner defend his title at the always popular kimchi eating contest, and welcome local Korean-American author Christy Kim, who released her first children’s book in August, for story time.
New this year, festivalgoers can also catch food demonstrations on the K-Village stage on Saturday, including Executive Chef Jongyul Yu from the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea making japchae, a glass noodle dish, and Chef Sunny Bertsch and Jay Maclean making kimchi.
“I think it makes the cuisine a little more accessible,” says Gaskins-Nunley. “You might look at it and go, ‘Oh, that looks like it’s too complicated for me to do,’ but when you actually get to see it made in front of you, you can see it is something you can try to make.”
Of course, you can do more than watch food demos – you can get your fill of a variety of dishes, too.
“Food is always a main attraction,” says Hong. “We want a little bit of everything for people to enjoy, and we do try to diversify the offerings.”
Alongside festival favorites like kimchi fries, tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), and bulgogi (beef) tacos, Gaskins-Nunley says new vendors will offer popular Korean street foods you may not have seen at the festival before, like hotteok, a sweet pancake, and the tornado fry, “which is like a big spiral potato all on a stick.”
“I don’t think anyone will be disappointed,” adds Hong with a laugh.
Over on the main stage, you can find traditional performances, like Han Narea’s traditional Korean dance and the percussive music of DORI, an all-female samul nori group, as well as taekwondo demonstrations, a hanbok fashion show, and of course, K-pop.
Festivalgoers can flex their K-pop knowledge during the festival’s first K-pop trivia contest, “What in the Trivia?!” hosted by local podcast What in the K-pop?!?! in the afternoon and then stay for K-pop headliners NCHIVE, a six-member boy group from Aubemoon Studio, who will close out the first day with a main stage performance.
NCHIVE will return on Sunday for a fan meet on the main stage, which is the first time the fan meet will occur at the festival and will be free and open to everyone. It’s a change that Gaskins-Nunley believes will make the fan meet even more fun than in previous years.
“I know there are people who might not have been able to attend fan meets in the past, or it’s not something that their family can afford, but now that it’s free to the public, you’ll get to see even more fans get to enjoy themselves,” explains Gaskins-Nunley.
But the main event on Sunday, which Hong says she’s most excited for, is the K-pop Dance Competition. It’s the first time the competition will be held live on the main stage, and it will feature Yuchan, one of the members of NCHIVE, as a judge.
“In previous years, we just had the winner come out and perform at the festival, but this year, it’s going to be happening for the crowd to enjoy the process,” says Hong.
Though they expect the K-pop activities to be popular attractions, Hong says there’s much more to the Korean culture they hope to share throughout the festival.
“I personally would like to see people enjoy learning and soaking everything in,” says Hong. “I want them to walk away thinking they had a good time and actually learned a lot about what they didn’t know before.”
Gaskins-Nunley agrees and adds that she loves seeing the wonder sparked in children and adults who don’t know as much about Korean culture as they walk through the festival.
“I’m hoping that it encourages people to learn more about Korea and the history and the food and the community in Houston,” says Gaskins-Nunley. “We have an incredible community here. We wouldn’t be able to do Korean Festival without them.”
The 15th Annual Korean Festival Houston is scheduled for Saturday, October 12, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, October 13, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney. For more information, please visit kfesthouston.com. Free.
One- or two-day VIP passes, with additional benefits like access to cooling stations, food vouchers, and a special alcohol-tasting event, are also available here. $50 to $75.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
