Sep. 3, 2024 By sobrien
Credit: Korea Fest/Culture Lab
Sept. 3, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
Culture Lab LIC will host New York’s first-ever Korea Fest this Sunday, bringing more than 20 food vendors to the performing arts venue.
The inaugural Korea Fest will take place from 2-9 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Culture Lab, located at 5-25 46th Ave.
The event will feature Korean food vendors from all over New York City in addition to K-Pop music and Korean dancing.
Dawn DeVito, director of events and marketing at Culture Lab, said it was an honor for the 12,000-square-foot performing arts venue to host the inaugural Korea Fest.
DeVito expects around 600 or 700 people to attend the festival throughout the seven hours, stating that the event is open to families and pets. The event is free, but anyone interested in attending is advised to reserve a free spot via Eventbrite or by clicking here.
DeVito said she hopes the event will be the first in a yearly series for Korea Fest at Culture Lab, adding that the venue already hosts festivals dedicated to Venezuelan, Taiwanese and Halal cultures. She also hopes the success of Korea Fest will inspire other cultural organizations to use Culture Lab for annual festivals.
This is something that we hope to turn into a regular thing,” DeVito said. “Next year, we would love to have two days of live music at the weekends and then one day for a different festival.”
“We’re open to hosting all different communities. I hate to use this phrase, but we’re in the world’s borough, and we want to put that on display here.”
DeVito said the event also helps to promote and celebrate Long Island City’s growing Asian community after it was announced last year that the neighborhood contains the fastest-growing Asian population in New York City.
“We think it’s very important (to celebrate LIC’s Asian community), especially since a lot of what we have been doing here lately is very focused on the different Asian cultures in the neighborhood. We had a Himalayan art show and at the beginning of the year we celebrated Lunar New Year as always. .
“Korea Fest is a great way to celebrate this growing community within our community and add to all the different kinds of Asian culture in the neighborhood.”
Although the event celebrates Korean culture and heritage, DeVito said she also expects to see a large “foodie” crowd in attendance on Sunday to explore the different Korean cuisines on offer.
“I noticed that a lot of the cultural festivals we host attract young people who are foodies. They’re really into coming around and trying all the different dishes that they have to offer.
“We are expecting quite a group of people, which is great – more people get to experience Korean culture.”
A previous cultural festival at Culture Lab. Credit: Culture Lab.