Songpa-gu brings together 26 neighborhoods for its 21st Hanmaeum Eoulmadang festival

More than 500 performers will take the stage as Songpa-gu — home to the most administrative neighborhoods of any district in Seoul — comes together for one of its signature community celebrations.

Songpa-gu will host the 21st Hanmaeum Eoulmadang, a community performance festival, on Saturday at 4:50 p.m. at the 88 Lawn of Olympic Park, giving residents a chance to showcase talents they have honed over the past year.

The Hanmaeum Eoulmadang is a showcase of community center programs held on the second day of the Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival, Songpa-gu's flagship annual event. This year, 26 neighborhoods are participating — three more than last year's 23 — making it the largest edition in the festival's history.

Students from community centers across the district will perform K-pop dance, traditional Korean dance, nanta drumming, harmonica and more. The program runs from a pre-show opening act through a ceremony, two showcase segments, a celebratory performance and an awards presentation.

A new feature this year is a "resident evaluation panel" that will supplement the professional judging committee with direct audience feedback. Members of the district's youth network and youth policy research group, along with residents recruited on the day, will watch the performances and submit their assessments.

Resident participation has also been expanded in the celebratory performances. Last year's grand-prize winners — the aerobics team "Jangji Club" from Jangji-dong and the line-dance group "Helio Line Queens" from Garak 1-dong — will open the event as pre-show acts, while the 2024 grand-prize winner, the Zumba dance team "We All Right" from Wirye-dong, will close the night. The Songpa District Folk Arts Troupe and trot music singer Lee Ye-eun will also perform.

The event is organized around the theme of this year's 26th Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival — "Brilliant Culture, Deep Resonance, One Together" — and is designed as a space where residents of all generations can connect through performance and shared celebration.

"I'm really looking forward to performing on such a big stage with the neighbors I've been preparing with," one participating resident said. "I hope as many people as possible come out and enjoy it with us."

"The Hanmaeum Eoulmadang is a stage where Songpa residents with genuine cultural and artistic talent put on performances of the highest caliber," District Mayor Seo Gang-seok said. "Alongside the internationally recognized Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival, we will continue to raise Songpa's standing as a city of culture and the arts — a place where residents enjoy culture as part of everyday life."

The 26th Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival runs from Thursday through Saturday at the 88 Lawn of Olympic Park. The event will feature a multi-tiered stage measuring 60 meters in length — the largest in the festival's history — and a drone show featuring 900 drones at 7 p.m. on opening night Thursday.