Author's note: There's bound to be updates to this month's events - keep checking back for more information and new events! If you have an event you'd like to plug, comment on this post with all the details. Please follow a few guidelines for the maximum benefit.


August 27 - October 10: Folks, it's time - time to get your Rocky Horror Picture Show on. This isn't just a showing of the movie - the original cast of the stage musical will perform the cult classic IN ENGLISH (a Korean narrator). Tickets range from 66,000 to 110,000 won - reserve them on the appropriately-named website. No word on whether callbacks and throwing things will be part of the festivities - but I'd bet more than a few people will come dressed... correctly...

September 3-7: Yeongdong Grape Festival - because quite a few fruits and vegetables need to have their own festival for all the hard work they do. There is an English language website, but not a whole lot of information... Yeongdong-gun, Yongdu Park.

September 4: Get your classical music fix and enjoy Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzer with Rachmaninoff Suite no. 2 for two Pianos. From the announcement:

[...] a collection of short chamber pieces reflecting on every facet of that most complex emotion. The music is full of beautifully embracing harmonies that soar and fall in a paean to the sometimes-challenging road to love. Encompassing hope, despair, longing, and joy, this intimate series of pieces handily reminds us of our greatest gift to one another.

Rounding out the concert will be the Rachmaninoff Suite no. 2 for Two Pianos performed by Brendan Hollins and Andreas Ehret. The Suite maintains the sweet tone of the evening in the Romance, but offers a refreshing complementary spice in the Waltz and Tarantella, reminding us that love is not without excitement.

This is being produced by Camarata Music Company, dedicated to creating opportunities for singing to anyone, and most recently did the Pirates of Penzance. 10,000 won in advance, 15,000 at the door of Chungdong First Methodist Church in Seoul (near City Hall station, lines 1 or 2). For more information, call 010-9806-8655 (English) or 010-2751-9675 (한국어).

September 4th and 5th - Join Actors without Barders as they journey through a selection of Shakespeare's most famous love scenes. AWOB will explore romances that explore the provocative, the preposterous, and everything in between. Puck and the Midsummer Nights Dream lovers guide us through the evening, but AWOB will also feature romances from Romeo and Juliet, Richard the III, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Taming of the Shrew, and Much Ado About Nothing. Theater Gori (Hyewha station, line 4, exit 4) Walk straight between Zio Zia and Baskin Robbins, then turn left on the second street. Sept 4th at 7pm; Sept 5th at 3pm and 7pm, 10,000 won admission, actorswb AT yahoo.com for more information.

September 9 - 12: The Incheon International Clown Mime - we're going beyond that old 'stuck in a box' routine here - and it isn't just clowns. From 10 Magazine's teaser on the event: "Along with the Clownmime team from Korea, Djuggledy from Germany, Fire Fingers from Israel, Duo Cappuchino from Russia, Mr. Qwirk from New Zealand, Acrobuffos from America, and Yui from Japan bring you laughs from around the world." The English language website is a bit screwy in Firefox, so open it up in Internet Explorer instead.

September 9 - 13: Korea International Art Fair 2010 - 193 galleries in 16 countries bring their art to the COEX mall for your perusal. It's an expensive 15,000 won, but worth it if you're planning to make a day of it. Get more information at http://www.kiaf.org/.

September 11 - 25: The first fine art gallery in Haebangchon opens with a gallery entitled “Urban Excerpts: Meditations on the overlooked.” From the press release:

When reading a story, sometimes a seemingly unimportant fragment-- a line or phrase-- will grab our attention in such a way that it continues to resurface and resound for weeks or years after the plot and characters have faded. Perhaps it’s the rhythm of the words or a particular resonance with other elements in our thought life that causes a passage to leap forth from the page and assume a life of its own.

For Seoul-based, American artist, Adam Lofbomm, the entire city is a visual narrative full of such fragments just waiting to be excerpted, quoted and re-appropriated. Using various cameras as a sort of notebook, he sifts through the urban landscape, capturing ready-made elements for his mixed media compositions such as distressed surfaces, obscured typographical forms, and details of city infrastructure that are often ignored. Employing various digital and analog printmaking techniques in his process, he then combines these visual excerpts into painterly works that highlight the raw beauty of the city and challenge us to look out at our everyday world with heightened awareness.

Two receptions are available to us mere mortals: Saturday, September 11, from 5-9pm and on Sunday, September 12, from 3-7pm. The gallery will be open daily from 11am-7pm until September 18, and viewings are available by appointment from September 19-25. For more information or directions, visit laughingtree.com.

September 18 - October 17: The Great Baekje World Festival - because kingdoms that reigned a thousand years ago need to remembered. The word 'world' in the name is a misnomer - how many other countries had a Baekje dynasty? Check out the IT Pavilion for some 3D technology hard at work, or learn the tourist-friendly story about Baekje and its kings. More information at its English-language website.

September 19 (2pm): A Ceili (Irish dance) happening in Insa-dong - dancing, music, and tea. What more do you need? Daesung Group Car Park in Insa-dong, or about halfway down the Insa-dong street. Hat tip to 10 Magazine for publicizing the event in the September 2010 magazine. The Irish Association in Korea is sponsoring the event, although I didn't see any information on its site before publication time.

September 22: Chuseok - more than just the Korean version of Thanksgiving Day, for most Koreans, it's a journey to the hometowns of parents or ancestors. For most foreigners living in Korea, it's an excellent holiday - the day before and the day after are considered part of the holiday. If you're working in Korea, you're all but guaranteed a three-day holiday; check your schedule to see if they're also granting the Monday before or Friday after off to connect it to the weekend. Catch up around the town you live in - trying to travel around the country during this holiday is bound to be a frustrating exercise in futility.

September 24 - October 3: The Andong Maskdance Festival - one of the best reasons to see the city of Andong. Why? Take an Important Intangible Cultural Property and make a festival out of it. For more information, check out the appropriately named maskdance.com.

September 24 - 26: The Seoul Drum Festival around Ttukseom station - headlining events include performances of plenty of international drumming teams. Don't forget about a Guiness World Record attempt at the largest percussion parade - get more information here.

September 28 - October 17: The Bucheon World Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo (BICHE) - an excellent way to learn and experience some of the area's intangible assets. Emphasis should be on the word 'experience', because there will be ample chances to do said activities, including making crafts, flying kites, and the like. Last year's event was one of the many canceled because of the swine flu, but this year holds no such problems. For more information, check out an excellent post on London Korean Links, or the official website.

Disclaimer: Chris in South Korea provides this monthly calendar as a service for you, the readers. No payments were received for event placement, and payment is not accepted for event placement.

© Chris Backe - 2010