The 19th Hyeonin Song Festival Held … The Nation's Largest Original Song Contest

August 4-6 at Songdo Beach, Memorial Concert for Hyun In, Eve Festival, and More

Famous Singers Including Insooni, Yang Ji-eun, Lee Solomon, Yoyomi, Kim Dong-hyun Celebrate

Busan City will hold the “19th Hyunin Gayoje” from the 4th to the 6th at the special stage on Songdo Beach to honor the late national singer Hyunin, who illuminated the Korean music festival, and to discover outstanding new singers.

The 19th Hyun In Gayo Festival.

Hosted by the Korea Federation of Entertainment Artists (Chairman Seok Hyun) and supported by Busan City and Seo-gu Office, the “Hyunin Gayoje” has been held for 19 years since 2004 to discover talented new singers nationwide and contribute to the promotion of popular culture.

In particular, it is held annually at Songdo Beach, revitalizing the western region and playing a significant role as a tourism and cultural festival that promotes the maritime city of Busan.

This year’s Hyunin Gayoje event will proceed as follows.

▲ On August 4th, it will begin with a memorial performance titled “We Miss You, Teacher” honoring the late Hyunin, ▲ On August 5th, the final preliminary round of the music festival will be held, featuring veteran singers’ “Songs of Those Days” and hosted by comedian Lee Yong-sik and singer Baek Su-jeong, and ▲ On the last day, August 6th, the final round of the music festival will be held, hosted by former KBS announcer Kim Byung-chan and singer Hyang-gi.

There will also be congratulatory performances by famous singers such as Insooni, Yang Ji-eun, Lee Solomon, Yoyomi, and Kim Dong-hyun.

A total of 15 teams will participate in this year’s Hyunin Gayoje. The participating teams will compete fiercely again on the final preliminary stage at 7 p.m. on August 5th, and only the five teams that pass the final preliminary round will advance to the final stage of the 19th Hyunin Gayoje at 7 p.m. on August 6th.

From March to May, a nationwide recruitment of participants was conducted, resulting in a total of 97 teams applying. Among them, 32 teams that passed the first preliminary screening underwent a second stage of live performance evaluation, from which 15 teams were selected.

The five teams advancing to the final stage will have their rankings, including Grand Prize, Gold Prize, and Silver Prize, determined by on-site judges’ evaluation on the day of the final.

The awards include 10 million KRW for the Grand Prize (1 winner), 5 million KRW for the Gold Prize (1 winner), 4 million KRW for the Silver Prize (1 winner), 3.5 million KRW for the Bronze Prize (1 winner), 3 million KRW for the Encouragement Prize (1 winner), and 500,000 KRW each for 10 participation awards, totaling 30.5 million KRW to be awarded to winners and participants.

Kim Ki-hwan, Director of the Culture and Sports Bureau of Busan City, said, “We expect the Hyunin Gayoje to showcase the charm of Busan to tourists visiting during the summer vacation and provide enjoyable memories that help forget the heat,” adding, “We ask for the great interest and participation of citizens and tourists.”

The late Hyunin was born in Busan in 1919, graduated from the Vocal Music Department of Tokyo University of the Arts, and started his singing career in Shanghai, China, after avoiding forced labor in Japan. He returned to Korea shortly after liberation and gained much love with numerous representative songs such as “Night of Silla,” “Be Strong, Geumsun,” which depicted the hardships of refugees, “Rainy Gomoryeong,” “Green Grape Love,” and “Frontline Ballad.” He passed away in April 2002 due to diabetes, a chronic illness.

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