Settings

ⓕ font-size

  • -2
  • -1
  • 0
  • +1
  • +2

BOF returns with wow contents beyond K-pop

  • Facebook share button
  • Twitter share button
  • Kakao share button
  • Mail share button
  • Link share button
The Busan One Asisa Festival (BOF) will be held on Oct. 20 through 28 in all over the port city. / Courtesy of BOF
The Busan One Asisa Festival (BOF) will be held on Oct. 20 through 28 in all over the port city. / Courtesy of BOF

By Kang Seung-woo

The Busan One Asia Festival (BOF), which has raised its profile as one of the nation's largest K-pop festivals through its previous two editions, has set the bar higher, seeking to evolve as the venue to enjoy diverse hallyu content together with Korean music.

The annual event, scheduled for Oct. 20 to 28, wowed visitors with its star-studded K-pop lineup in the past two years. And this time, it is not likely to let down those who come with high expectations, with a fresh yet still starry roster, including Wanna One, one of the hottest boy bands in K-pop today, girl group Red Velvet and singer-songwriter Zion.T.

Wanna One will raise the curtain of the BOF opening ceremony, Oct. 20. / Courtesy of BOF
Wanna One will raise the curtain of the BOF opening ceremony, Oct. 20. / Courtesy of BOF

As aforementioned, however, this year's edition will also focus on many other Korean cultural programs, including beauty, fashion and webtoon, happening in all over the port city.

The biggest draw of the BOF will no doubt be the opening and closing ceremonies that will feature a total of 22 groups ― 11 each ― at Busan Asiad Main Stadium.

Wanna One, EXO, Seventeen, NCT 127, Celeb Five, Mamamoo, EXID, Gfriend, A.C.E, The Boyz and rookie girl group (G)I-DLE will raise the curtain of the festival.

The closing ceremony will feature another colorful lineup, comprised of NCT Dream, Favorite, Dynamic Duo, Rhythm Power, April, Astro, Teen Top, Mighty Mouth, Kard, Spectrum and Red Velvet.

Plus, the closing stage is not only for already-popular K-pop bands, but for rookie idol groups.

The two ceremonies will take place at 7 p.m., Oct. 20 and 28, respectively.

Along with the opening and closing events, BOF Park Concert and BOF On-Stage will also offer K-pop performances.

K-pop girl group Red Velvet will be the biggest draw at the BOF closing ceremony, Oct. 28. / Courtesy of BOF
K-pop girl group Red Velvet will be the biggest draw at the BOF closing ceremony, Oct. 28. / Courtesy of BOF

The park concert, a one-day picnic-like free event on Oct. 21 at Busan Citizen Park, will introduce various musical genres from ballad to trot music, and artists, including K.Will, Chungha and the Busan Metropolitan Chorus.

Visitors should not miss out on the flea market there, too.

The on-stage event at Gunam-ro near Haeundae Beach is focused on offering rock, hip-hop and K-pop.

Starting Oct. 25, it will bring punk rock bands No Brain and Crying Nut and indie band Burningsoda to the stage, followed by Zion.T, and rappers Webster B and Uber Def on Oct. 26. K-pop artists Paul Kim, Nilo and Hanool Tari will wrap up the three-day sub-event on Oct. 27.

As part of the organizer's efforts to transform the BOF into a place where visitors can experience diverse hallyu content with no genre limitations, BOF Land will be set up at Gunam-ro during the nine-day run, featuring various events, such as K-POP New Star Showcase, Made in Busan Performance and Exhibition Programs and Everything Audition.

BOF B-Art, among others, is highly likely to take center stage at the experience zone thanks to its renowned lineup. It is an art project allowing participants to experience Korean artwork.

Artist Kim Choong-jae, the designer of this year's BOF poster, will lead a flag project, in which he plans to receive 1,000 flags with drawings from visitors and raise them at Haeundae Beach.

Webtoonists Kian84, who is known for his appearance on MBC's reality show "I Live Alone," and Joo Ho-min, the author behind the megahit movie "Along with the Gods," will hold a live painting event.

The Made in Busan program will introduce the nation's second-largest city's excellent cultural content to the world.

In addition, there will be a meeting between K-pop stars and fans on three occasions, Oct. 21, 23 and 26 at Haeundae.


Kang Seung-woo ksw@koreatimes.co.kr


X
CLOSE

Top 10 Stories

go top LETTER