Contemporary Daegu, Performing Arts City
Contemporary Daegu, Performing Arts City
Daegu, a Melodious City
Music in the Daily Life of Citizens
Daegu launched the Melodious City Development Project, which offers busking performances around the city, with the intent to console residents who have been suffering from the scars of the 2003 Daegu subway disaster. Street performers playing the ocarina and the guitar, among other instruments, can be easily spotted in parks, subway stations, and the riverside around the city.
While amateur music clubs receive support from the city for their activities, designated busking spots around the city center provide excellent opportunities for citizens to appreciate music in daily life.
- A busking performance of amateur musicians
Under the catchphrase “Art in Life,” the city is making efforts to help its citizens stay close to music in everyday life. At the local and community level, various arts and cultural clubs are involved. They are the driving force behind the “Arts and Culture in Life Festival,” which has been held every summer since 2014. At the festival, a wide range of arts and cultural clubs, such as amateur orchestras and indie bands, participate.
Daegu, Hub of Performance Culture in Korea
Representative Cultural Brands: Daegu International Opera Festival and Daegu International Musical Festival
Daegu International Musical Festival
Daegu International Opera Festival
Daegu boasts the highest buying power of performance tickets among regional cities. According to Korea’s largest on-line ticket vendor, Interpark, Daegu ranked first among the six metropolitan cities with ticket sales of 26.91 billion won in 2014. Interestingly, Daegu outperformed Busan, whose population size is 1.4 times that of Daegu, in the number of tickets sold and generated revenue. As Daegu is at the top in terms of demand for performing events and market size, it is a sought-after location for renowned overseas performance troupes. For example, Wicked, a large-scale licensed musical, posted a long-term performance schedule in Daegu ahead of Seoul in 2016.
Daegu has been implementing projects to position itself as a representative city of performance culture in Korea. The city drafted the Basic Plan to Foster Daegu as a City of Performance Culture (2008) and the Comprehensive Plan to Build Daegu as a City of Performance Culture (2010). On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Daegu International Musical Festival in 2016, the city provided extensive support for the production of original musicals in order to become one of the three international musical cities along with New York and London. Furthermore, Daegu has been a forerunner in opera both in name and in practice. The Daegu International Opera Festival stages operas produced in collaboration with well-known foreign opera theaters in Germany and China, and promotes international exchange to develop the opera market in Asia and the Pacific.
When the city completes the construction of the Culture Technology Performance Plex Park in 2022 (to be launched in 2018), it will expedite the advancement of state-of-the-art performance technologies, such as stage production and lighting. This will allow the city to further enhance its status as the production hub of performing arts such as opera and musicals.
Daegu, Center of a New Folk Music Wave
“Folk Music Street” Named after the Late Pop Musician Kim Kwang-Seok
Kim Kwang-Seok Folk Music Street - A music event in memory of Kim Kwang-Seok
Since the Kim Kwang-Seok Folk Music Street was established in a traditional market area that had gone downhill due to the growth of large discount stores and department stores, fans of Kim from all over the country have flocked to the street. Here one can meet the late folk singer-songwriter, who is often dubbed Korea’s Bob Dylan, as if he had come alive, through holography, by using ICT technology and combining image with voice. This media art concert is held three times a day from Thursday to Sunday every week. In addition, musicians offer busking performances in his memory. Besides, previously unoccupied spaces have been renovated into handicraft shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and galleries. This street has now been reborn as a well-known tourist attraction drawing over a million visitors a year, and is often regarded both at home and abroad as a successful example of urban regeneration.
Crowds at the Daegu Folk Music Festival
Daegu hosts the Daegu Folk Music Festival, a pop music event with the late folk singer Kim Kwang-Seok as its main attraction. The festival offers a vibrant stage for local folk musicians while at the same time it is a venue for discovering new musicians through various contests. Recently, musicians have been invited from such countries as Japan and Malaysia in an effort to develop the festival into an international music event that promotes world harmony.
