A performance at last year's Silla Cultural Festival hip-hop concert. [Gyeongju City]
A performance at last year's Silla Cultural Festival hip-hop concert. [Gyeongju City]

Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province will host the 53rd Silla Cultural Festival from Oct. 9 to 11, with events spread across the city center including Woljeong Bridge and Bonghwangdae, the city announced Friday.

Co-hosted by North Gyeongsang Province and Gyeongju City and organized by the Gyeongju Culture Foundation, the Silla Cultural Festival is the city's flagship cultural event, presenting the history and culture of the Silla Kingdom through contemporary performances, street arts and hands-on programs.

This year's festival will center on two main programs — Hwabaek Jejeon and Silk Road Festa — alongside a hip-hop concert and a late-night market event.

Hwabaek Jejeon, the festival's signature program, will be staged at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 and 10 on a specially built floating stage at Woljeong Bridge.

This year's production, themed "Silla, One Light," draws on the founding myths of Park Hyeokgeose and Alyeong to explore the birth of the Silla Kingdom and the spirit of unity. More than 100 performers — including members of the Gyeongju City Silla Gochwidae ensemble, dancers and actors — will take the stage for a roughly 40-minute show.

Set against the nighttime backdrop of Woljeong Bridge, the performance will blend media art, projection mapping, 3D flying acts, drones and fireworks into a multidimensional spectacle.

To improve audience access, the viewing area will be expanded to three sides of Woljeong Bridge, replacing the existing tiered waterside seating with a standing-viewing option as well. The stage will also be raised to improve sightlines for aerial performances.

Silk Road Festa will run at Bonghwangdae and various points across the city center, with an open-air festival space using the burial mound plaza and lawns operating daily from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. throughout the festival.

Twenty-six professional street performance groups — including Dongchun Circus — will deliver 61 shows spanning aerial theater, fire shows, circus acts, comedy and drama. Fifty-eight local artist groups comprising 251 performers will also take part, staging busking performances of traditional Korean music, classical vocals, dance and popular music at Woljeong Bridge, Cheomseongdae and Hwallidan-gil.

After dark, a lighting show projected onto the Bonghwangdae burial mounds and a "silent cinema" — where audiences watch films through individual wireless headsets — will also be on offer. A festa lounge and a relaxation area will be set up, and the event footprint will be extended toward Seobongchong to ease crowding.

Programs for children and young people will also be available. A kids' zone will be set up along Jungang-ro, while the Seobongchong area will host an ESG running station combining eco-friendly activities with a fun run, and an immersive exhibition featuring works by local young artists.

The hip-hop concert will run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 10 at the Naemnam intersection area, with artists Dynamic Duo, Beo, Woo Won-jae and Kid Milli performing.

The venue will be divided into standing and lounge zones, with two entry points for the standing area. Emergency exits will be secured and audience flow managed to improve safety.

A late-night food and illumination event will run daily from 1 p.m. to midnight from Oct. 9 to 11 at Bonghwangdae, Jungang-ro and the Geumgwanchong excavation site.

Six local commercial districts, including traditional markets, will participate, operating 36 vendor spaces. Dining areas accommodating around 1,300 people will be set up at a retro beer zone on Jungang-ro, a picnic zone at Bonghwangdae and a festa lounge at the Geumgwanchong site.

The festival will also pursue eco-friendly operations in partnership with local self-sufficiency centers, using more than 50,000 reusable containers to cut down on single-use items.

Citizen participation will be expanded this year. A total of 321 residents will help run the festival, including 150 citizen supporters, 91 citizen producers and 80 youth members of the Hwarang-Wonhwa corps.

Ahead of the main festival, a Silla Arts Festival called "Art Signal in Gyeongju" will be held at Bonghwangdae on Saturday and Sunday. The two-day event will feature exhibitions, performances, traditional arts experiences, a farmers' band parade, a youth concert and a relay fusion concert, as well as a drone show and a ganggangsullae circle dance.

Traffic restrictions will also be in effect. The road from the Woljeong Bridge public parking lot to the museum intersection will be closed to vehicles from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 and 10.

Jungang-ro will be closed from noon on Oct. 8 to noon on Oct. 12, while the stretch of Bonghwang-ro from the Cheonggiwanegeori intersection to the Naemnam intersection will be restricted from 9 a.m. on Oct. 9 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 11.

"We have prepared the festival so that residents and tourists can enjoy the history and culture of Silla through a wide range of performances and experiences," Gyeongju Mayor Ju Nak-young said. "We will also do our utmost to ensure safety and visitor convenience."


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com