Korea Festival 2019 will bring Korean Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan to Abu Dhabi. Courtesy Korean Cultural Centre
Korea Festival 2019 will bring Korean Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan to Abu Dhabi. Courtesy Korean Cultural Centre
Korea Festival 2019 will bring Korean Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan to Abu Dhabi. Courtesy Korean Cultural Centre
Korea Festival 2019 will bring Korean Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan to Abu Dhabi. Courtesy Korean Cultural Centre

Your guide to the UAE Korea Festival 2019: K-pop concerts, art, cooking and more


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

K-pop concerts, exhibitions, workshops and seminars are some of the activities to look forward to at this year's Korea Festival. Hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development of the UAE, this year's event runs from Tuesday, October 15 to Saturday, November 9 at locations around the Emirates. Now in its sixth year, the festival helps promote cultural exchange between the UAE and Korea.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights of what’s happening at this year’s festival:

Year of Tolerance exhibition

When: Tuesday, October 15 to Saturday, November 9

Where: Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi

Members of the National Academy of Arts of the Republic of Korea’s Fine Art Division will display their art with the theme of the Year of Tolerance. The exhibition features different genres of artwork including calligraphy, sculpture and painting. The exhibition also revolves around people, nature, life and heritage.

Korean Brand and Content Expo

When: Wednesday, October 16 to Friday, October 18

Where: Dubai World Trade Centre

The three-day event is split into three parts: business and networking, exhibition and events and a K-pop concert. Those looking for a potential new business venture can head to Sheikh Saeed Hall 2 for business and networking on October 16 to 17.

See, feel and try Korean beauty, fashion and food products during the exhibition and events on October 17 to 18 at Sheikh Saeed Hall 1.

And finally, K-pop boy bands Seventeen and SF9 will perform at Trade Centre Arena on October 17. Actress Ha Ji Won (Damo, Secret Garden) will also be in attendance to meet fans.

Korean Traditional Medicine: seminar and treatment trial 

When: Saturday, October 19 at 4pm

Where: Korean Cultural Centre, Abu Dhabi

Learn more about Korean medicine. The 90-minute seminar will focus on the causes and treatments of hair loss and the ways to keep your hair healthy through traditional Korean medicine. After the seminar, there will be medical consultations on request and trials of Korean herbal tea and herbal products.

K-Music Night with Dubai Opera Orchestra, Fatima Alhashemi, Second Moon, GongMyoung and D-Crunch

When: Thursday, October 24, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

Where: Cultural Foundation

The event will see Korean and Emirati musicians come together as the Dubai Opera Orchestra and opera singer Fatima Alhashemi will collaborate with Korean bands Second Moon and GongMyoung to perform songs in both Korean and Arabic.

Second Moon is a South Korean ethnic fusion band that have performed in several folk festivals around the world. GongMyoung is a performing arts group who reinterpret traditional Korean music in a modern way.

Also performing will be K-pop boy band D-Crunch. The nine-member group debuted in 2018 with the song Palace and have a strong emphasis on hip-hop. The group has six rappers and three vocalists.

Korean Temple Food cooking class with Jeong Kwan

When: Friday, November 1 at 3pm for public, Sunday, November 3 for professional chefs

Where: Korean Cultural Centre

Jeong Kwan is coming to Abu Dhabi to introduce Korean temple cuisine. The Zen Buddhist nun, who was featured on an episode of Netflix's Chef's Table in 2017, cooks for fellow nuns and monks as well as occasional visitors but does not own a restaurant and has no formal culinary training. During her class, she will demonstrate how she prepares temple food with participants getting to experience preparing and tasting it. She will host two events, one for the public and one for professional chefs.

Registration is required as spots are limited. To apply for a spot in the class, click here.

Baru Gongyang with Jeong Kwan

When: Tuesday, November 5 at 6pm

Where: Korean Cultural Centre

For those who can’t make the cooking class, there is another chance for a session with Jeong Kwan. In Korean Buddhism, eating meals is referred to as Baru Gongyang and participants will be able to enjoy her food using baru (wooden bowl) as they practice the ritual that’s used for having a meal in a temple. Temple meals are carried out in an orderly procedure and are an important part of monastic practice.

Registration is required as spots are limited. To apply for a spot in the class, click here.

K-Music night with BIG

When: Thursday, November 7 from 7.30pm to 9pm

Where: Cultural Foundation

Korean boy band BIG (Boys in Groove) will perform a mix of K-pop and Arabic cover songs. Formed in 2014, the group has taken Arabic lessons to help while performing covers of popular Arabic songs such as Boshret Kheir by Hussain Al Jassmi and La Bezzaf by The 5. They've also released an Arabic version of their single Hello Hello.

More information is available from koreafestivaluae.com

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Profile of Bitex UAE

Date of launch: November 2018

Founder: Monark Modi

Based: Business Bay, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: Eight employees

Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings

The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Fixtures
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1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Various Artists 
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
​​​​​​​

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma

When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Scoreline

Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan

 Saudi Arabia Al Muwallad 63’

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

SPECS
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While you're here
Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

Ponti

Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat

UAE FIXTURES

Friday February 18: v Ireland

Saturday February 19: v Germany

Monday February 21: v Philippines

Tuesday February 22: semi-finals

Thursday February 24: final 

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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