Participants of the Cheonan World Dance Festival 2023 perfrom during the its street parade program in the South Chungcheong Province city, Oct 8, 2023. Courtesy of Cheonan City
Cheonan World Dance Festival 2024 is set to kick off tomorrow.
The five-day event is the South Chungcheong provincial city’s largest annual festivity, marking its 20th anniversary this year.
According to the Cheonan Foundation for Arts and Culture, Monday, about 4,000 dancers and performers from 54 countries are expected to showcase a diverse array of their dance traditions and styles for this year’s event.
Starting with Cheonan City Arts Company’s welcome show, pop stars, including Kwon Eun-bi and Song Ga-in, will perform for the opening ceremony at Cheonan Stadium on the first day.
The gala of the Korea Intentional Contemporary Dance Competition opens the second day, followed by the festival’s highlight, the World Dance Contest, International Street Dance Championship and a three-on-three tryout for the Korean national dance team.
The Street Dance Parade will take place at the Shinbu-dong area on Sept. 27, with a total of 1,900 performers from 47 foreign and local performance groups from the World Dance Contest as well as an alliance of hip-hop and street dance competitors, adding a festive atmosphere to the local streets.
The event will also serve as a platform for fostering international cooperation through convening the Federation of International Dance Festivals’ executive committee and congress, with aims to enhance cultural understanding and build relationships within the global dance community.
Cheonan Stadium will host various dance-related activities for children, a dining zone with 10 food trucks and snack booths and a free shuttle service operating on three routes to provide easier access to the festival grounds.
Cheonan Mayor Park Sang-don expressed his excitement about the upcoming festival.
“This year’s festival is the largest to date. It is an opportunity to boast Cheonan’s rich cultural heritage. We should do our utmost in preparation,” Park said.
According to the city, a total of 870,000 visitors and performing artists joined last year’s festival, resulting in about 43.3 billion won in direct and indirect revenue for the local community. It was also listed in the country’s 25 best local festivals by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2009 and for three consecutive years from 2011.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
