2011 Gwangju World Kimchi Festival

The 2011 Gwangju World Kimchi Festival is a big festival in Korea that celebrates kimchi, or 김 치. Kimchi is a staple at every meal in Korea, much like bread is a staple at every meal in the USA. It is cabbage marinated in spicy red chili paste. In the warm months, it is made fresh. In the winter months, it is made in clay pots and stored throughout the winter in a process that ferments the cabbage. While some foreigners don't like kimchi because it has a strong flavor and is quite spicy, I like it and enjoy it whenever I eat a Korean meal.

At the kimchi festival that took place this weekend, people had the chance to make their own fresh kimchi and take it home with them. I didn't make it out yesterday, and when I got to the festival this evening, that portion of the festival had already closed down.

This evening, I met my friend, Diana, at the festival, which took place in Jungoe Park, the same park that is centered between the Gwangju Biennale, the Gwangju Museum of Art, the Gwangju National Museum, and the Gwangju Folk Museum. We wanted to see the foreigner pop concern contest from 7:30-9pm.

The concert was pretty cool and featured nine norae (노 례 - singing) performances by a diverse group of foreigners. Each act had to choose a Korean K-pop (Korean Pop music) song, and all nine groups did great.

The winner was a woman from the USA who sang Ugly by 2NE1. She had a great voice and gave the performance her all. She even had a costume change and did some acting that followed the video of the song. It was quite good.

The winner, center

Another act

The largely Korean audience's stand-up dancing-in-the-aisles reaction to an older pop-song

 Even though I plan to move to Daejeon next year, I plan on visiting Gwangju to see the 2012 Gwangju World Kimchi Festival. After all, what would a trip to Korea be without experiencing the festival that celebrates the country's most favorite food?