The 17th Queer Culture Festival – starts on June 11th, 2016 at Seoul City Hall Plaza
– The festival begins with the Queer Parade on June 11th and ends with a closing ceremony of the Korea Queer Film Festival (KQFF) on June 19th
– The slogan is ‘QUEER I AM’, signifying the respect for the existence of queers while combating discrimination and hatred
– The festival expects 65,000 participants, the largest number of participants ever, with the aim to hold a safe and peaceful festival without hatred
This year we can once again spot a ‘rainbow’ at the center of Seoul. The Queer Culture Festival, the biggest cultural event for queer people in South Korea, will begin at Seoul City Hall Plaza this upcoming June.
The Korea Queer Culture Festival Organization Committee (Myeoung-Jin KANG, Chairperson of the Organizing Committee as noted below) announced that the 17th Queer Culture Festival will be held for 9 days, starting with the Queer Parade at Seoul City Hall Plaza on June 11th.
The Queer Culture Festival’s Main Party—the theme of this year’s party is “Private Beach”—will be held on the day of the festival, from the evening of the 11th to the early hours of the 12th. The Queer Film Festival, a cinematic dialogue of queer life, will take place at prominent theaters around Seoul over the course of four days, from June 16th to the 19th. In addition to the main events, there will be an assortment of exhibits, performances, and talk shows open to all who wish to participate during the length of the festival. The festival, which saw a stunning number of participants last year (50,000), expects an increase to 65,000 participants this year.
KQCF Chairperson Myeongjin Kang stated that “The Queer Cultural Festival is a democratic cultural event that initiates an opportunity for sexual minorities to reveal themselves as they truly are, hence taking a further step of maturity towards a civil society respectful of differences and accepting of diversity,” adding that the “already homophobic forces are rising to the occasion, attempting to illegally thwart the festival, and so we look to the government and the police for cooperation in holding a safe and peaceful festival.”
