How South Korea's music festival scene is getting bigger, louder and more diverse
It was an early summer day and, without a cloud in the sky, the temperature in Seoul Olympic Park hit 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). But the rising heat did not deter Elena Joo from attending this year's Seoul Jazz Festival, with international headliners such as Thundercat, Jacob Collier and Lany, as well as chart-topping home favourites like Crush, Epik High and Jannabi.
'This is my first time going to the Seoul Jazz Festival after putting it off for the past few years,' said the 35-year-old Seoul native, clinging on to a picnic mat and other outdoor necessities like water bottles and a packed lunchbox.
'I knew that the festival happened every year in my neighbourhood. But it was when everyone started to talk about it like this big, one-of-a-kind annual event that I actually wanted to go.'
There have been quite a number of large-scale music events in South Korea this year. EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) Korea unofficially kicked off the festival season at the end of April with South Korean DJ Peggy Gou making a much-anticipated headliner appearance at Incheon's newly built Inspire Entertainment Resort.
The audience braves the summer heat to watch the Yussef Dayes Experience on the main stage at the 2025 Seoul Jazz Festival. Photo: Seoul Jazz Festival
The 17th edition of the Seoul Jazz Festival, held between May 30 and June 1, brought in a total of 46,000 attendees who shuttled between the main stage in 88 Lawn Field – the number in reference to the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games – the KSPO Dome and SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium, which are some of the biggest indoor concert venues in the country.
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