Seocho-gu to Host Youth Culture and Arts Festival at Seoul Express Bus Terminal Plaza

Seocho-gu to Host ‘Seocho Music & Art Festival’ at Seoul Express Bus Terminal Plaza on the 16th and 17th

Youth Directly Plan Festival with the Theme of ‘Terminal, Tunnel, Terminal’... Offering Attractions and Activities Including Experiences, Exhibitions, and Markets

12 Programs Including ‘Terminal Piano’ Relay Classical Performances, ‘Music & Talk’ Sharing Stories of Weary Youth Through Music, and Experimental Performances ‘Music & Art’

Seocho-gu Mayor Jeon Seong-su: “We Will Continue to Strive to Make Seocho a City Where Everyday Life Becomes Art and Art Becomes Everyday Life”

The area around Seoul Express Bus Terminal, a hub for tourism, shopping, and transportation, will transform into a vibrant cultural and artistic playground for youth.

Schubert’s unfinished symphony will be performed live, and ‘Lightbulb Humans’ dressed in protective suits will roam the area. The plaza floor will become a sketchbook drawn with chalk.

Seocho-gu (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) and the Seocho Cultural Foundation (CEO Kang Eun-kyung) will hold the ‘Seocho Music & Art Festival’ from the 16th to the 17th at the Seoul Express Bus Terminal plaza area, themed around the passion and concerns of today’s youth.

This festival was organized by the district to expand the cultural base for young artists and to heal their daily hardships. It also aims to promote ‘Seocho as a city of culture and arts’ to terminal visitors from across the country and contribute to revitalizing the local economy within the underground shopping mall of the Express Bus Terminal.

The festival’s theme is ‘Youth’s Terminal - Tunnel - Terminal.’ It symbolizes the ‘terminal’ as a question youth ask themselves, the ‘tunnel’ as overcoming anxiety and fear, and the ‘terminal’ as a shared space where the youth festival is held.

In line with the theme, about 10 young festival planners collaborated with young artists to directly plan detailed programs.

The festival, held daily from 2 PM to 9 PM, features a total of 12 programs across four concept zones within approximately 1,200㎡: ▲Performance Zone ▲Experience Zone ▲Exhibition Zone ▲Market Zone. Visitors can enjoy concerts, street performances, drawing, art markets, and more.

The festival highlights include the main stage programs: ▲Relay classical performances by ‘Terminal Piano’ ▲‘Music & Talk’ sharing stories of weary youth through music ▲Experimental performances under the theme ‘Music & Art.’

First, during the afternoon, seven young pianists will perform as ‘Terminal Piano,’ each selecting one Romantic composer to express the romance of youth. They will present about 30 minutes each of works by Debussy, Liszt, Schumann, Schubert, Grieg, Chopin, and Rachmaninoff. This represents Seocho’s classical identity as the only classical music street in the nation.

At 7 PM on the 16th, a relay ‘Music & Talk’ session will be held featuring three singer-songwriters. Each will spend 40 minutes connecting with youth and offering comfort through music. First, Kang Baek-su will perform under the theme ‘Terminal: Am I Okay Just As I Am Here and Now?’ encouraging wavering youth to steady their hearts through music.

Next, Xeuda will offer songs of consolation on anxiety, depression, and confusion under the theme ‘Tunnel: Finally Meeting You and Me After Passing Through a Dark Tunnel.’ ZOZNO will share musical reflections on various thoughts with the theme ‘Terminal: The Moment When That Strange Place Becomes Familiar.’

At 5 PM on the 17th, various performances under the theme ‘Music & Art’ will take place. Performers include ‘Nerd Connection,’ who appeared on JTBC’s Singer Gain and Your Voice 6; Harim and ‘Modart,’ who reinterpret the life of young independence activist Yun Bong-gil in a modern language; Seo-ri-pul Youth Arts Group ‘Ensemble Eumgam’; creative collective ‘Universe Goblin’; Project Yac; and Kim Jae-hoon Company, promising high-quality stages for the audience.

Additionally, young artists will present creative terminal performances over the two days. The ‘Lightbulb Humans’ by Imagination Power Plant are performers dressed in lightbulb costumes roaming the streets. Citizens can join young artists to become lightbulb humans and participate in a flash mob. Project Umtu will present dance and other performances under the theme ‘Youth Line,’ offering a resting place for tired passersby.

Moreover, a pavilion and a sculptural installation titled ‘Terminal Release’ made with long fabric to highlight architectural aesthetics will be installed on the exterior wall of the Express Bus Terminal building. Created by 34 architecture students from Kyonggi University, this work will serve as a shaded resting area for visitors. Visitors can also enjoy participatory exhibitions such as ‘Live Asphalt Drawing Performance (The New Chapter; A New Beginning)’ with Korea’s first chalk art artist Jiyada Shorona.

In the Experience Zone, young festival planners have organized various participatory programs including ▲‘Sharing Worries’ called ‘Worry Namm-Namm’ ▲‘Cheering the Flower Path’ filled with photo zones ▲‘Where Is Your Final Destination?’ sharing encouragement. The Market Zone will be enriched with works and goods from 20 young artists.

Especially on the 17th, a Seocho-gu YouTube promotion booth will be set up, allowing visitors to capture memories with ‘Seocho Four-Cut’ photo sessions.

During the festival, the Express Bus Terminal plaza will feature camping-style seating using artificial turf, bean bags, and chairs. The district has prepared contingency manuals for unexpected situations and deployed safety personnel throughout the area to prevent accidents due to crowds on the festival days.

This Seocho Music & Art Festival is the second seasonal festival following the ‘Spring Night Classical Festival’ held in April as part of Seocho-gu’s year-round festival series.

Kang Eun-kyung, CEO of Seocho Cultural Foundation, expressed, “We hope the ‘Seocho Music & Art Festival,’ the first attempt for Seocho youth, will establish itself as a representative youth festival of Seocho.”

Seocho-gu Mayor Jeon Seong-su said, “I hope the ‘Seocho Music & Art Festival,’ filled with the freshness of Seocho youth, will be a warm comfort for a brief rest. We will continue to create Seocho as a city where everyday life becomes art and art becomes everyday life through festivals across the region.”

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