The '1901 Live Road Festa,' a stay-type cultural festival that combines modern historical and cultural assets of the Incheon open port area with music content, will be held on June 21 and 22.
This event is a core program of the 'Open Port Global Branding Project' and is an experimental attempt to reinterpret the historical identity and cultural context of the open port era through storytelling, transforming them into unique local content.
Planned as an 'open festival' that takes place across all of Incheon in everyday spaces, the event differentiates itself from previous festivals. In particular, representative modern architectural assets of Incheon?such as Jemulpo Club, built in 1901, old Chinese merchant shops, Incheon Citizen's House, Incheon Modern Architecture Exhibition Hall, Incheon Art Platform, and local live clubs?will be used as actual performance venues.
The festival will feature performances by 19 teams from 6 countries, covering a variety of genres including jazz, folk, band, and DJ sets. During the day, lyrical and calm storytelling performances will be staged in the city’s alleys under the concept of 'walking, seeing, and listening performances.' In the evening, main performances featuring Yoon Dohyun Band, Crying Nut, No Brain, and Biscats will heat up the atmosphere. The final night of the festival will culminate in live club DJ performances.
In addition, in connection with the 'Jemulpo Wave Market,' local brand pop-ups and handicraft experience programs will be provided, creating a complex cultural space where citizens can participate.
An event is taking place at 'Incheon Art Platform,' a complex cultural space located near the open port area. Incheon City
The city aims to use the festival to brand the open port area as an urban identity and to organically connect local alley businesses and regional resources, creating a festival based on a local circulation structure where citizens and tourists stay and consume. To achieve this, the city has introduced a stamp tour coupon through the Incheon e-ji app, co-planned with local brands and clubs, and arranged street-based stages considering the flow of visitors, so that the event and local business consumption are naturally connected.
Starting with this event, the city plans to continue the festival’s momentum with live club performances on midsummer nights and to promote the spread of local culture in connection with the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Various APEC-related events centered around the open port area are being prepared for July and August. At the end of next month, the '1883 Open Port Square Music Festival' and 'Summer Sound in the Port' will be held, and in August, record pop-up stores featuring listening sessions and DJing will take place at the old Chinese merchant shops.
Kim Junsung, Director of Incheon City's Global City Bureau, said, "The 1901 Live Road Festa will be an event that brings the history and cultural assets of the open port area into citizens’ daily lives," adding, "I hope the open port area will be reborn as a vibrant site where today’s culture thrives, not just a remnant of the past, and that this will serve as a stepping stone for Incheon to become a global cultural city."
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