'Seoul World City Culture Festival' Held on 22-23... Food and Play Cultures from 46 Countries Gathered in One Place

Held at Seoul Plaza, Mugyo-ro, and Cheonggyecheon-ro
Participation of embassies from 46 countries, food exhibitions from 37 countries, tourism promotions from 34 countries, and more fun activities

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 18th that it will hold the representative global festival of Seoul, "2022 Seoul Friendship Festival," where cultures from around the world can be enjoyed in one place, in downtown areas such as Seoul Plaza, Mugyo-ro, and Cheonggyecheon-ro on the 22nd and 23rd.

This year's festival features participation from 46 foreign embassies in Korea. It consists of ?World City Food Exhibition from 37 countries ?World City Tourism Promotion Exhibition from 34 countries ?World Busking Cultural Performances from 10 countries ?World Traditional Costume Experience Exhibition from 13 countries ?World Play Experience Exhibition from 9 countries, among others.

The festival opening ceremony will begin on the 22nd at Seoul Plaza with an opening address by Kim Ui-seung, the First Deputy Mayor for Administration, and a congratulatory speech by Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Korea.

The World City Food Exhibition will be held for the first time in three years since COVID-19. At Mugyo-ro and Cheonggyecheon-ro, visitors can enjoy a variety of popular global foods in one place, from familiar dishes such as Thailand’s "Pad Thai," German sausage "Bratwurst," to Brazil’s "Feijoada."

In the Tourism Promotion Exhibition, 34 countries will participate. Booths set up around Seoul Plaza will display and sell various traditional items from around the world and introduce attractive tourism content. Visitors can also enjoy various hands-on programs such as Jordanian coffee bean grinding, Georgian wine tasting, and making traditional bead crafts from Ghana.

At the "World Busking," performance groups from 10 countries will entertain citizens. Ten performance teams selected through recommendations from embassies in Korea will perform traditional arts such as Brazil’s Capoeira (traditional martial art), Latvia’s traditional music, and Colombia’s salsa. Additionally, the "World Traditional Costume Experience Exhibition" will allow visitors to try on traditional costumes from 12 countries including Nigeria, Peru, and Cambodia, which are rarely encountered. The "World Play Experience Exhibition" offers children the chance to experience traditional games from 9 countries, providing various programs and events to directly experience overseas cultures.

Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Seoul’s Economic Policy Office, said, “The Seoul Friendship Festival is Seoul’s representative global festival created together with Seoul citizens, foreign residents in Korea, and foreign embassies in Korea.” He added, “Like this year’s theme of a world reunited, we hope it will be an opportunity to feel close to each other by experiencing cultures such as food and games from various countries.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.