Korean Festival

With the clanging of cymbals, a heart-pounding drum beat and the gentle swoosh of folk dancers in satiny costumes, the 19th annual Korean Festival parade attracted an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 spectators to the heart of Koreatown on Saturday for a colorful celebration of ethnic traditions.

You get a little culture and you save a little cash. And you can enjoy being in another country without leaving this one. San Francisco celebrates Korean Culture Day on Sunday with a free festival, courtesy of the Korea Foundation,  that celebrates chuseok , a harvest festival that the Korean tourism organization describes as the "biggest and most important holiday in Korea . " You may not think of South Korea as an agricultural nation...

Korean Festival: A "Gala Festival of Korean Music and Dance" has been booked into the Shrine Auditorium on Sept. 21 to mark Korea's entry into the United Nations. The show also coincides with the annual celebration of Chusok, a traditional holiday in Korea to give thanks for the autumn harvest. The company of 136 Korean musicians, singers and dancers from Seoul is on a five-country tour that will include a date at Carnegie Hall in New York.

As a means of introducing Korean culture to Valley residents, the Valley Korean-American Assn. will present a two-day festival at Cal State Northridge beginning Saturday. Sponsored by CSUN's College of Humanities and the Korea Times, the fifth annual Korean Culture Festival showcases modern and traditional forms of music and dance performed by the Valley's Korean-American community.

First came a Korean Scout troop, carrying a banner announcing the parade of the ninth annual Korean Festival of Orange County. Thirty girls followed, all twirling stage swords and dressed in colorful traditional Korean dresses called han boks . Behind them were members of the Elderly Korean Americans of Orange County, the men in white-and-blue farmers' clothes and banging drums and the women in han boks and performing a scarf dance.

Holmes Stoner's proposal sounded about as logical as pouring soy sauce on a burrito. While there were Cinco de Mayo parties all over Southern California two weekends ago, Universal Studios was hosting an Asian-American festival. Figuring that it wouldn't attract many Latinos that weekend anyway, it chased after the Asian-American market instead.

As a means of introducing Korean culture to Valley residents, the Valley Korean-American Assn. will present a two-day festival at Cal State Northridge beginning Saturday. Sponsored by CSUN's College of Humanities and the Korea Times, the fifth annual Korean Culture Festival showcases modern and traditional forms of music and dance performed by the Valley's Korean-American community.

You get a little culture and you save a little cash. And you can enjoy being in another country without leaving this one. San Francisco celebrates Korean Culture Day on Sunday with a free festival, courtesy of the Korea Foundation,  that celebrates chuseok , a harvest festival that the Korean tourism organization describes as the "biggest and most important holiday in Korea . " You may not think of South Korea as an agricultural nation...

The eighth annual Korean Festival, which includes three days of parades, cultural displays, martial arts demonstrations and a health fair, opens today at noon in Garden Grove's Koreatown. Sponsored by the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, the event honors the city's large Korean business community, located on Garden Grove Boulevard between Magnolia and Brookhurst streets. The festival begins with a carnival at noon in KD Plaza, 9590 Garden Grove Blvd.

South Korean authorities Wednesday refused to allow 40 Christian youths and newspaper reporters to attend a festival in North Korea, saying their participation would harm national interests. The refusal confirmed an earlier ban on South Koreans taking part in the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students, scheduled July 1-8. North Korea has invited about 500 South Korean students and dissidents to join in the sports, cultural and political event, attended mainly by students from Third World and Communist nations.

"Post-Colonial Classics of Korean Cinema," a film festival spanning the 1940s to contemporary times, will begin Saturday at UC Irvine. Director Kim Ki-yong's "The Housemaid" and Chang Son-wu's "Lovers in Woomuk-Baemi" will be shown. The series brings together a number of films making their U.S. premieres; they have been newly printed with English subtitles.

The San Fernando Valley's Korean and Vietnamese communities will hold festivals this weekend to celebrate two cultural holidays. The Valley Korean-American Assn. will host a "Chu-seog" festival Saturday at Mason Park in Chatsworth to celebrate the Korean Thanksgiving, one of the great national holidays in Korea. The noon event will feature a Korean barbecue lunch, traditional folk dancing and a Korean martial arts demonstration.

The 10th Korean Festival of Orange County will kick off this weekend in the heart of the Korean business community with fireworks, a Miss Korea pageant and a parade featuring Gov. Pete Wilson as grand marshal, according to organizers. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the three-day affair, the premier Korean cultural celebration in Orange County, backers said. The opening ceremonies start at 6:30 p.m. today at the festival grounds at 9590 Garden Grove Blvd.

With the clanging of cymbals, a heart-pounding drum beat and the gentle swoosh of folk dancers in satiny costumes, the 19th annual Korean Festival parade attracted an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 spectators to the heart of Koreatown on Saturday for a colorful celebration of ethnic traditions.

First came a Korean Scout troop, carrying a banner announcing the parade of the ninth annual Korean Festival of Orange County. Thirty girls followed, all twirling stage swords and dressed in colorful traditional Korean dresses called han boks . Behind them were members of the Elderly Korean Americans of Orange County, the men in white-and-blue farmers' clothes and banging drums and the women in han boks and performing a scarf dance.

Korean Festival: A "Gala Festival of Korean Music and Dance" has been booked into the Shrine Auditorium on Sept. 21 to mark Korea's entry into the United Nations. The show also coincides with the annual celebration of Chusok, a traditional holiday in Korea to give thanks for the autumn harvest. The company of 136 Korean musicians, singers and dancers from Seoul is on a five-country tour that will include a date at Carnegie Hall in New York.

The San Fernando Valley's Korean and Vietnamese communities will hold festivals this weekend to celebrate two cultural holidays. The Valley Korean-American Assn. will host a "Chu-seog" festival Saturday at Mason Park in Chatsworth to celebrate the Korean Thanksgiving, one of the great national holidays in Korea. The noon event will feature a Korean barbecue lunch, traditional folk dancing and a Korean martial arts demonstration.

The county's Korean community is celebrating its heritage with a three-day Korean Festival beginning at noon today in Garden Grove. The event, in its seventh year, is centered in the Garden Square shopping area at 9800 Garden Grove Blvd. It features talent contests, a carnival, martial arts, cultural exhibits and sports. The highlight will be a parade Saturday along Garden Grove Boulevard beginning at 3 p.m.

The eighth annual Korean Festival, which includes three days of parades, cultural displays, martial arts demonstrations and a health fair, opens today at noon in Garden Grove's Koreatown. Sponsored by the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, the event honors the city's large Korean business community, located on Garden Grove Boulevard between Magnolia and Brookhurst streets. The festival begins with a carnival at noon in KD Plaza, 9590 Garden Grove Blvd.

Carol Kim, a Caucasian woman who married a Korean man 10 years ago, brought their daughter Jinny to the Korean Festival of Orange County in Garden Grove on Saturday, hoping to give the 6-year-old a glimpse of her cultural heritage. "She never gets a chance to see any music and dancing of Korean culture, except on the Korean television channel," said Carol Kim, 30, who said that her family speaks Korean at home in Moreno Valley.