THE BOYZ pose for a photo.

Korea-UAE K-POP Festival has been postponed from April 2(Friday) to April 4 (Sun) to pay tribute to the death of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Culture and Youth of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has planned to hold the “KOREA-UAE FESTIVAL” to mark the 2020-2021 Korea-UAE Cultural Dialogue.  However, the organizers have decided to reschedule some of the events to pay tribute the death of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

The Korea-UAE K-CONTENT Festival which is scheduled from March 31 (Wednesday) to April 1 (Thursday) will be hold as planned. However, the Korea-UAE K-POP Festival will be held on April 4 at 7:00pm (UAE Time).  

The K-POP artists who will perform at the KOREA-UAE K-POP FESTIVAL have shared the greeting messages including wishing a successful Dubai EXPO and celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the UAE through Korean Cultural Center social medias. (https://youtu.be/_FmghavyEMs)

The most popular Korean K-POP groups including MAMAMOO, B.I.G, ASTRO, NCT DREAM, THE BOYZ, and aespa and Emirati Opera singer Fatima Al Hashmi will perform at the virtual event. In particular, a collaboration between the Korean K-POP group and the local singer will make the KOREA-UAE K-POP FESTIVAL more spectacular.

The pre-recorded free online concert especially prepared for the K-POP fans in the UAE, will be available on the official YouTube channel of Korean Cultural Center in the UAE on April 4 (Sunday) at 7pm UAE Time.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of South Korea (Minister Hwang Hee) and the Ministry of Culture and Youth (Minister Noura Al Kaabi) of the UAE are celebrating the year of Korea-UAE cultural dialogue through the holding of various cultural events, such as the ‘Kores-UAE Festival.’

Park Yang-woo the former Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of South Korea Noura Al Kaabi signed a MOU in December 2019 agreeing to set 2020 as The Year of Korea-UAE Cultural Dialogue to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between Korea and the UAE.

However, due to COVID-19, many cultural events were postponed and this led to the agreement between the two countries to extend the year of Cultural Dialogue until 2021.

In addition, as part of the events for the year of Cultural Dialogue, the motto ‘Converging Cultures,’ meaning the cultural developments of the two countries through convergence, was selected as the slogan.

Various mutual exchange projects, such as  Performance of 'AkDanGwangChil’Al Burda Endowment: Islamic Art Virtual Reality (VR) Exhibition.'

The 1st Korea-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Cultural Content Industry Discussion (Forum) were pushed ahead.

Also, in 2021, various events was to be held to commemorate the year of Cultural Dialogue showing the cooperation of both Korea and UAE.

The first event which to be online “Korea-UAE Festival” from March 31 to April 2 has been postponed to April 4.

This will be hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Korea, and it will be jointly organised by the Korea Creative Content Agency and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange.

MAMAMOO pose for group photo.

This event will be held in two parts, the K-CONTENT FESTIVAL for promoting Korean content to the UAE, and the K-POP FESTIVAL, which is expected to show high interest in the region.

At the K-CONTENT FESTIVAL, online group seminar and 1:1 business consulting will be held with the theme of ‘Strategies for Entering the Middle Eastern Markets’ from March 31 to April 1.

24 leading UAE speakers, buyers, and 28 Korean companies in story & comics, game and immersive content (VR and AR) will be participating in this event.

The UAE is a country that can be at the center of the spread of New Hallyu culture with its content market totaling $8.6 billion (about KRW 9.6 trillion), ranking 26th in the world and 2nd in the Middle Eastern market.

Therefore, this 1:1 business consultation is expected to be of great assistance to Korean content-producing companies, as it will lead to the expansion of business exchanges, and it will produce practical results despite the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

Also, promotional videos from influencers will be released to promote Korean products such as K-beauty, K-pop related products and K-food that have been rising in popularity due to K-dramas and K-pop.

Such programs are expected to increase the influx of Hallyu lovers, not only to Hallyu content, but also to related industries.

The KOREA-UAE K-POP FESTIVAL will be held on April 4.

The most popular Korean K-POP groups, including MAMAMOO, B.I.G, ASTRO, NCT DREAM, THE BOYZ and aespa, along with Emirati Opera singer Fatima Al Hashmi, will perform.

Special performances by MAMAMOO and THE BOYZ on the stage implemented with XR technology will be held, promoting the beauty of KOREA and the UAE to domestic and international audiences alike.

The collaborative performance of K-pop artist and UAE artist is expected to enrich the cultural exchanges between the two countries.

This performance will be held on April 4 at 7:00 pm UAE time on the official YouTube channel of the ‘Korean Cultural Center in the UAE.