Suonno D'ajere from Italy performs at the ACC Haneul Madang Stage, Thursday. Courtesy of Daniel J. Springer
GWANGJU — Along with the newfound fall breezes comes a troop of international street performers and eccentric personalities as part of what is arguably become Gwangju's marquee performance event of the past few years: the Busking World Cup.
This would be the 3rd edition of the event funded by Gwangju, and the upping of City Hall's proverbial game was evident all throughout the six-day event since the buskers started performing around the Asian Culture Complex on Tuesday night.
Tuesday kicked off the finals of a tournament that sees 64 groups and soloists competing for a first prize of 50 million won, 25 million won for the runner-up and 10 million for third place. This is money not to be sneezed at, especially for artists who perform impromptu for the public in the streets.
Local artists always get excited for this event as well. Andrew Vlasblom of Dreamers and Kindle Records noted that the event offers a great opportunity to see incredible music from all over the world for free, while also "presenting buskers and local musicians the chance to showcase their talents and network with other musicians."
The Busking World Cup on Tuesday saw the opening ceremony along with a kickoff of the Asia Music Summit. The conference was joined by 18 global music industry experts along with 300 domestic audio luminaries, focusing on ways to grow the Korean and Asian music industry.
Edison Prithiviraj, a promoter based in Mumbai who runs several events and entertainment companies around India and Nepal, was flown up to speak at the music confab on Tuesday, giving the opening remarks. In a conversation on Wednesday evening, he noted the summit was a great idea, and was a "very positive and productive event" overall.
While the summit took place indoors on Tuesday, the performances officially commenced at the ACC, showcasing a collection of bands from Gwangju and across Korea.
For the entire week, the event will feature booths, tents and trucks serving all sorts of good stuff into the wee hours every night along with a high energy nighttime flea market.
If you only have time for shopping or eating this weekend, you'll still catch the performers as the ubiquity of the music reaches its peak. Friday and Saturday will see all the buskers performing at a variety of locations around downtown in both staged and impromptu performances, so anyone who's downtown in Gwangju this weekend will surely notice that something different is going on.
Jon Amey, guitarist for local rock outfit Malarkey, noted, "Having so many talented musicians concentrated in one place gives Gwangju a vibrancy, creating a really unique atmosphere."
What is also notable about this edition of the event is the coordination and creation of other attractions during the entirety of the week that gives an admittedly beleaguered downtown Gwangju a big-time buzz.
Whereas the first couple editions of the Busking World Cup were rather isolated affairs, this year puts everything together and highlights both the incredible event and Gwangju's unique artistic and cultural offerings.
Chungjang-ro is shut down to traffic, and there are two stages at either end of the main block between Geumnam-ro 4-ga Station and the ACC. This is not to mention the two big stages and one smaller, more intimate tent stage on the ACC grounds itself.
If you're only up for nightlife and are simply out to have it until the wee hours, one organic development since the Busking World Cup started two years ago is the afterhours sessions at Loft 28. It has become the unofficial venue for performers to jam, hang out, and generally have a good time after the pressure of the shows.
"We are humbled the performers have felt so at home in our spot and [Loft 28 has] always made it about the performers," Loft 28 owner Craig Anthony said.
The impromptu jam sessions that go on among the artists involved in the main event are remarkable, and one would be remiss to not go check out happenings there after the lights have gone down at the ACC.
The final rounds will be Saturday and Sunday, with a prize ceremony at the end along with a people's choice award given to other finalists, based on the vote of the audience members.
Daniel J. Springer is the former host and producer of "The Drop with Danno" on GFN.