September 23, 2025
SEOUL – The 2025 Welcome Daehakro Festival, a premier performance tourism event in South Korea, will take place from Friday to Nov. 2 across Daehangno, the National Museum of Korea and Myeongdong.
This year marks the festival’s 9th edition, celebrating the country’s vibrant performance culture.
The festival will feature “Welcome Theatre,” showcasing 47 performances including popular nonspeaking works like “Painters” and “Jump,” as well as musicals, plays and traditional arts. International visitors can receive discounts via the Interpark Global page.
New this year is “Welcome Fringe,” a free outdoor showcase at the National Museum of Korea this Saturday and Sunday. Highlights include UNESCO-listed Imsil Pilbong Nongak, the acclaimed “1457, The Boy at Rest,” and traditional performances like the masked dance-drama “Gangneung Gwanno Gamyeongeuk.”
“Smart Theater,” a system that translates performance scripts and displays real-time foreign language subtitles through AI-powered subtitle glasses, will be introduced throughout October, allowing foreign tourists to enjoy performances in their native languages. To increase accessibility for international audiences, tickets will be sold at discounts of up to 80 percent.
On Friday, the festival will kick off with the Performance Tourism Market at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, where 170 industry professionals will discuss the future of performance-based tourism.
“This year’s Welcome Daehakro Festival aims to significantly enhance the convenience for foreign tourists through new initiatives like ‘Welcome Fringe’ and ‘Smart Theater,’ while expanding regional performances to broaden the foundation of K-performance tourism. We will continue to actively support the growth of performance tourism so that it can become a core component of K-culture,” said an official from Korea Tourism Organization, the festival organizer.
