The '2024 Haeundae University Song Festival' is set to take place. On the night of August 10, the passion of youth will ignite the midsummer of Haeundae.
The newly revived Riverside Song Festival and University Song Festival are preparing for a spectacular comeback with both domestic and international tourists on August 10 at Haeundae Beach in Busan.
The two song festivals, which served as a gateway for aspiring singers among university students nationwide in the 1970s and 1980s, will heat up the midsummer night of Haeundae under the name '2024 Haeundae University Song Festival' on August 10.
The festivals have produced numerous singers over the years, including Lee Sangwoo (A Love Like a Sad Painting), Park Sunju (Gwiro), Lee Sangeun (Damdadi), Muhangwedo - Shin Haechul (To You), Hwaljuro - Bae Chulsoo (Talchum), Nopuenumjari (Lying by the Sea), and Badase (Badase).
Many of the songs that once captivated an era remain beloved favorites among the public, even decades later.
The Haeundae University Song Festival, which is also the summer version of the '2024 Hangang University Song Festival' held at Yeouido Hangang Park on May 25, is open to all university (and graduate) students nationwide, including both enrolled and on-leave students.
Preliminary applications can be submitted online (via Google Forms), and applicants must submit their audio files and sheet music by the 12th of this month.
Out of the 12 teams that make it to the finals, five teams will receive a total of 20 million KRW in scholarship prizes.
The grand prize-winning team will receive a trophy and a scholarship of 10 million KRW, while the gold prize (5 million KRW), silver prize (3 million KRW), and two bronze prizes (1 million KRW each) will also be awarded with trophies and prize money.
The Haeundae University Song Festival aims to move away from the commercialism of audition-centered competitions and instead encourage pure creative passion among university students. It is planned to be held every summer at Haeundae Beach. The inaugural chairperson of the University Song Festival Organizing Committee is singer Lee Sangwoo, who won the gold prize at the 9th Riverside Song Festival in 1988.
Chairperson Lee, who has promised to lead the organizing committee for the next three years and ensure its successful establishment, said, "I am proud to contribute to the revival of the University Song Festival, which had been asleep in our memories," and added, "I hope the original songs, blossomed through the sweat and passion of university students across the country, will color the beautiful night sky of Haeundae."
This year's Haeundae University Song Festival is sponsored by BNK Busan Bank (President Bang Seongbin).
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