There are various ways in which university students spend their summers in Korea. In July and August, Korea hosts a variety of festivals featuring various genres, including traditional festivals as well as EDM, hip-hop, K-pop, and rock. Korean university students and young people on summer vacation enjoy the season by attending festivals of their favorite genres. The Dongguk Post hopes that international students visiting Korea for the first time will also have the opportunity to experience various cultures and enjoy the summer in Korea.
Entertain together at the Water Bomb Festival
The Water Bomb Festival is the largest music and water-themed festival in Korea, which combines performances from various genres such as K-pop, hip-hop, and EDM with large-scale water-fighting. Since 2018, it has held several regional tours in Korea, as well as overseas tours in 2023. The Water Bomb Festival has become the epitome of Korean summer festivals, and energetic young people actively seek to participate. As it is a festival centered around water fighting, participants are divided into two teams of the opposite composition, and the audience gets to select a team. Each team is given a specific color, and participants are expected to dress and accessorize their water guns with the team color. The performing artists also engage in the water fight between the two teams, spraying water on the audience. During the Water Bomb Festival season, various types of media content, such as videos of performing artists, TikTok challenges, and popular topics and trends. Some celebrities even go viral through the videos of the audience. For example, through the Water Bomb Festival, artists like Kwon Eun-bi and Bibi have gained popularity and established themselves as representative festival artists.Let us listen to the direct experience of a Donggukian who went to the Water Bomb Festival of 2023, to enjoy the summer in a different way. Kim Se-yeon (Department of Business Administration 22) told her story where she participated in the festival because a friend who is a fan of the hip-hop genre wanted to see artist Park Jae-bum at the Water Bomb Festival. She said, “It was impressive to see people wearing clothes you would not see in daily life. In addition, there is a water gun fight section at the Water Bomb Festival. To fully enjoy it, participants bring water guns of various sizes and designs. One person even made a jet-shaped water gun himself which was impressive.” Furthermore, she mentioned that “the Water Bomb Festival is a special festival on its own, where you can get soaked by water while also getting drunk. It cited that you could spend a fun summer with young people who enjoy drinking, singing, and dancing as an advantage.” Lastly, she mentioned that she also would recommend the Water Bomb Festival to international students where they can enjoy unique Korean games by shooting water guns with strangers.
Enjoy the music at the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival
The Pentaport Rock Festival, held in Incheon Metropolitan City from July to August every year, is the largest rock festival in Korea and is a representative music festival selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism as one of the 100 K-CULTURE Tourism Events. Unlike foreign rock festivals, through the Pentaport Rock Festival, the audience can engage with the mostly Korean performing artist line up. In addition, it is divided into F&B zones, camping zones and several stages where you can enjoy music. In particular, due to the up-beat nature of the rock music everyone can enjoy the festival.Let us listen to the reviews of the students who enjoyed the Pentaport Rock Festival. Lee Ji-sun (Department of Business Administration 19), who participated in the 2022 and 2023 Pentaport Rock Festivals told that at first, she was not very interested in the rock genre. However, after attending the first event, she was captivated by the various bands’ performances and decided to participate again in the following year. She pointed out that the difference from other festivals is that you can still enjoy the atmosphere even if it is a song by a band that you are not familiar with at the festival. She said, “However, since the event took place in the hottest month of August, it was unfortunate that the weather was excessively hot. Additionally, scheduling both the main stage and the sub-stage performances at the same time resulted in attendees having to choose between missing one performance.” Nevertheless, she answered that the reason they are particularly recommended to foreigners is that they have a freer atmosphere, thanks to the nature of the rock festival, and the advantage of being able to play as much as they want. She also added that everyone will be able to enjoy it without language barriers, as even artists who do not know the language can still appreciate it.
Through interviews, we listened to the stories of Donggukians who participated in two festivals currently gaining popularity in Korea. The Dongguk Post hopes you enjoy the summer in Korea by participating in a festival filled with young people enjoying the hot weather. Furthermore, we hope that your summer in Korea will be characterized by your participation in various Korean festivals.