K-Royal Culture Festival's fall edition to begin on Hangul Day

The fall edition of the K-Royal Culture Festival is set to take place from Oct. 9 to 13 at the four royal palaces in central Seoul: Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong and Deoksu palaces.

Gyeongbok Palace during the spring edition of the K-Royal Culture Festival in May this year [KOREA HERITAGE AGENCY]

The fall edition of the K-Royal Culture Festival is set to take place from Oct. 9 to 13 at the four royal palaces in central Seoul: Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong and Deoksu palaces.

Organized by the Korea Heritage Service’s Royal Palaces and Tombs Center and the Korea Heritage Agency, the biannual cultural heritage festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

The spring edition, which was held toward the end of April, garnered over 600,000 visitors from both home and abroad.

The first day of the upcoming edition is also Hangul Day, a national holiday that celebrates the creation of the Korean alphabet.

A highlight of the K-Royal Culture Festival are the programs involving hanbok (traditional Korean dress) at Gyeongbok Palace. For starters, anyone who dons hanbok will be able to enter the “Hanbok Royal Banquet” at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 free of charge. And those who make reservations in advance will receive a special gift.

The banquet will feature a reenactment of the royal family strolling inside the palace as well as gugak (traditional Korean music) performances.

There will also be a “Royal Tailor” event, called Sanguiwon in Korean, in reference to the atelier that dealt with the royal family’s medicine and clothing during the Joseon Dyansty (1392-1910). The event, which allows visitors to learn about the history of hanbok and create hanbok accessories, takes place at the Gyeongbok Palace’s Sujeongjeon Hall and Yungmuru Site.

Changgyeong Palace during the spring edition of the K-Royal Culture Festival in May this year [KOREA HERITAGE AGENCY]

Other programs will showcase hanbok’s history in films and documents, award-winning photographs of hanbok and an immersive exhibition.

There will be a crossover music performance of ballet and court music, titled “The Palace Concert: Ballet x Sujecheon,” from Oct. 10 to 13. The program has increased in scale, with the audience capacity being 650 and number of performances being four. Some of the seats are exclusive to foreigners, which can be booked via Creatrip.

Over at Changdeok Palace is the “Awakening the Morning Palace” program, in which visitors can take a morning stroll inside the palace with artist Lee Si-woo and historian Ahn Ji-young as guides.

Changdeok Palace during the spring edition of the K-Royal Culture Festival in May this year [KOREA HERITAGE AGENCY]

Changgyeong Palace is holding the play “Peach Blossom: A Sorrowful Scene” from Oct. 11 to 13. The performance centers on the stories of historical figures like King Yeongjo, Crown Prince Sado, King Jeongjo and Queen Heongyeong, also known as Lady Hyegyeong.

The palace is also putting on the media art performance “Moonlight Lotus Show” against the backdrop of the Chundangji Pond.

Reservations for the K-Royal Culture Festival are available on Ticketlink from Monday at 12 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis.

A limited-edition K-Royal Palaces pass is available to purchase, which allows unlimited access to the four palaces as well as Gyeonghui Palace and Jongmyo Shrine. The pass includes a single nighttime admission to Gyeongbok Palace during the festival’s run.

For more information regarding programs, visit the Korea Heritage Agency’s website.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]