Edinburgh Fringe-inspired book and culture fair to launch in Paju in September

The Paju Fair: Book & Culture is slated for Sept. 6 to 8 at Paju Book City in Paju, hosted by the Book City Culture Foundation.

Actors slated to be featured at the upcoming Paju Fair: Book & Culture speak to reporters Tuesday during the fair’s press conference in Jongno District, central Seoul. From left are Kim So-hyun, Kim Jun-ho, Kang Boo-ja, Gil Hae-yeon and Oh Man-seok. [NEWS1]

An ambitious book and culture fair is taking off in Paju, Gyeonggi, in September to celebrate well-known Korean stories as well as lesser-known hidden gems.

The Paju Fair: Book & Culture is slated for Sept. 6 to 8 at Paju Book City, hosted by the Book City Culture Foundation.

Launching its first edition this year, the fair sets out to become a platform where content inside Korean books can be discovered and then distributed — hopefully abroad — through various mediums like musicals, plays or movies.

Its motto, consequently, is “Books alive!”

“People don’t read books very much these days, but that doesn’t mean authors have stopped writing,” actor-producer Song Seung-hwan, sitting in as the director of the Paju Fair: Book & Culture, told reporters Tuesday during the fair's press conference in Jongno District, central Seoul. “The Korean literature scene is full of brilliant stories, and we hope to breathe new life into them in this festival.”

The Fringe section of the fair holds performance showcases — including plays, musicals, ballet, children’s shows and nonverbal plays — from a select handful of acts who pass an audition process. They are divided into two categories: performances based on Korean literature and those with original stories.

Eight will receive up to 5 million won ($3,685) for their productions and two will receive 50 million won, including travel and overseas marketing fees, according to the fair.

Actor-producer Song Seung-hwan, sitting in as the director of the Paju Fair: Book & Culture, speaks to reporters Tuesday during the fair's press conference in Jongno District, central Seoul. [NEWS1]

The Paju Fair: Book & Culture aims to follow in the footsteps of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest performing arts festival held annually in Scotland.

“The idea of the fair came about after I took publishing industry officials to the Edinburgh festival in 2022,” said Song. His nonverbal percussion show, “Nanta,” was invited to the festival 25 years ago.

“We all agreed that Korea could really benefit from a festival like this one and set off to work.”

For Song personally, the upcoming fair is his chance to discover the second “Nanta.”

“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to discover and support young talented artists whose works surpass that of ‘Nanta.’”

Paju city also expressed its eagerness to host the Paju Fair: Book & Culture.

“We are an industrial complex for books,” said Yoon Hu-duk, a National Assembly member from Paju. “For the city to have a sustainable future, its identity as a cultural hub is essential. Paju city is honored to be housing this cultural festival and hopes that it will further extend the city’s identity from just books to books and culture.”

Paju is some 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of Seoul, best known as Korea’s publishing hub and is home to hundreds of printing companies.

Entry to the fair is free this year but that may change in the future as the spokespeople for the event emphasized the fair's plan to become financially self-sufficient by its fifth year. This year’s festival is largely backed by government funds, and the total budget is set at 1.5 billion won, said Chairman of Paju Fair: Book & Culture Ko Yeong-eun,

The three-day fair will include a musical gala concert with a 15-piece orchestra, performances by musical stars Kim So-hyun, Son Jun-ho and Oh Man-seok, live book recitals and book and art markets.

It will also stage the children’s musical “Jungle Book” and the play “My Mother.”

"It is a great honor to have this opportunity to show our work at the Paju Fair: Book & Culture," said Kang Boo-ja, star of "My Mother." "I'm so glad that a beautiful city like Paju will now have its own landmark event."

"Even though this is the fair's inaugural year, there is a diverse curriculum," said Oh Man-seok, actor and musical theater performer also slated to perform at the Paju Fair: Book & Culture. "We will make sure to give entertaining performances that bolster the fair's celebration of great Korean stories."

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]