The days are getting hotter. Summer is in full swing, and that means it’s festival season. As major music festivals like Primavera Sound, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Fuji Rock Festival, and Summer Sonic captivate audiences around the globe, Korea, too, has plunged right into its festival stretch. Kicking things off in June were the DMZ Peace Train Music Festival and the Asian Pop Festival, and things only get more exciting for fans with the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, Jeonju Ultimate Music Festival, One Universe Festival, Let’s Rock Festival, Sound Planet Festival, and the Busan International Rock Festival. And there isn’t even enough space here to get into the festivals happening once summer’s over.
We’re truly living in the golden age of music fests. Last year, an astounding 150,000 attendees flooded to Pentaport during the three-day event, while the Busan International Rock Festival attracted nearly 60,000 visitors over a similar period. The Seoul Jazz Festival has continued to draw packed crowds every year since it started being held there in 2012. And you can’t miss the Jarasum Jazz Festival, which has been going strong since 2004. WATERBOMB celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, having expanded into a massive nationwide tour and grown into a high-profile entertainment event featuring K-pop, hip hop, and electronic artists all at the same festival. It’s so popular now that it’s a given that tickets sell out in no time. Social media’s always flooded with endless festival reviews, and fans eagerly get ready to experience the highlight of their year by searching for festival fashion tips and etiquette. The area surrounding these festivals is always jam-packed, so you need to start looking for where to stay the night a year in advance.
What an incredible reversal of events. Back in 2019, the word most often associated with music festivals was “crisis.” Looking internationally, the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the very symbol of rock festivals, was canceled. In Korea, the Jisan Valley Rock Music and Arts Festival, which had been one of the two most important domestic rock festivals—alongside Pentaport and its earlier incarnation in 1999, the Triport Rock Festival—came to an effective end in 2018. With Pentaport the only surviving event, it grew in 2019 to 100,000 attendees, much of which was attributed to fans being funneled toward it in the absence of other large-scale rock festivals. And it wasn’t just rock festivals that were in decline, either. That same year, the mismanagement of Ultra Korea became one of the most notorious failures in Korean festival history. At the same time, the Busan International Rock Festival, newly charging for admission for the first time, fell victim to fraud while booking its artists.
But things have changed drastically since then. As soon as restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted and fans no longer had to deal with the music vacuum, they gladly opened up their wallets to see enormous world tours by big names and to attend iconic festivals. The global music fest market boasted $215.8 billion in earnings last year, and it’s projected to grow nearly 24% every year through 2031. And the market’s thriving in Korea, too. According to the 2024 Performing Arts Market Ticket Sales Analysis Report published by the Korea Arts Management Service, year-over-year sales of tickets related to popular music grew across all metrics, including number of shows, number of performances, ticket reservations, and ticket sales. Among them, festivals showed a 25% increase in ticket reservations to 600,000 and a 35% rise in revenue to over 51 billion won, proving both supply and demand are on the rise.
Since 1999—which marked the start of Ssamzie Sound Festival at Yonsei University’s outdoor theater and the beginning of university fests, the inception of Triport Rock Festival in Incheon, and the first Dongducheon Rock Festival—these events have more or less always had survival as their main goal. Securing reliable venues that could safely accommodate tens of thousands of concertgoers without incident and securing sponsors to fund operations was crucial. And booking the musicians was even more of a challenge. No matter how comfortable and convenient the facilities are or carefully timed with good weather in mind, without big names to excite fans, there’s little reason to attend. For a long time, Korea was considered a wasteland for visiting artists. They were reluctant to visit the relatively small Korean scene unless they could work it into a wider Asian tour or pop over after playing festivals like Fuji Rock or Summer Sonic in Japan.
Despite the challenges, Korea’s festival industry has recently shown a clear upward trajectory with measurable growth. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Pentaport, and headlining this year is Pulp, fresh off their Glastonbury performance to promote their first album in 24 years, “More.” It’s the band’s first time performing in Korea. Friday’s headliner is Japanese band ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, performing in Korea for the first time in 12 years, while Sunday’s headliner, alt rocker Beck, returns for the first time since 2016. Meanwhile, the Busan International Rock Festival’s lineup features the Smashing Pumpkins—with three of their founding members—and BABYMETAL. The announcement that Japanese band RADWIMPS would perform at this year’s Let’s Rock Festival, when it traditionally features only domestic artists, got people talking. At the same time, the international artists who typically visit Japan during this season are increasingly opting to put on their own concerts in Korea as well, giving fans more and more exciting options to consider.
Alongside the quantitative growth, there’s growing discussion on the need for qualitative improvements to the scene, too. At the moment, major domestic rock festivals fall short of making the experience as smooth as it could be for audiences. Incheon’s Songdo Moonlight Festival Park, which plays host to Pentaport, was once tranquil marshland. Now, surrounded by densely packed apartments and commercial districts, it’s nearly impossible to hold performances after 10 pm due to noise complaints. Plus, as the scorching heat becomes a bigger issue year after year, and after unimaginable incidents and accidents of late, safety management has become top priority. There’s also deeper thought being paid to image and identity. Contrary to the distinctively rock-flavored festivals of the past, festivalgoers today expect their festivals to expand their musical horizons for more mainstream appeal.
More and more great alternatives continue to arise. The DMZ Peace Train Music Festival, held since 2018 in the Goseokjeong region of Cheorwon in Gangwon Province, has built a distinct identity for itself. Held in a city marked by the scars of division near the Demilitarized Zone, the event emphasizes peace and harmony while working closely with the local community. The fest brings together Korean indie bands as well as and legends like Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols and John Cale of the Velvet Underground, alongside iconic older Korean such as Yoon Soo Il, Love & Peace, Choi Baek Ho, Han Young Ae, and Kim Hyun Chul, opening a truly unifying chapter. The Asian Pop Festival, which first took place last year at Paradise City resort in Incheon, has made a big impression already. It’s bolstered by its unique lineup of attention-grabbing artists from across Asia—including those from Japan, Taiwan, China, and Indonesia—alongside Korean indie acts, plus the comfortable viewing experience thanks to the resort’s infrastructure.
With years of accumulated know-how, increased revenues, and reliable management teams in place, today, Korea’s festival scene is well beyond surviving—it’s thriving. The thrill of coming together with a whole crowd of people who share a love for music, to experience extraordinary performances together firsthand, is something only festivals can deliver on. Post-pandemic, music lovers at these events no longer limit themselves to their favorite artists or genres but embrace every moment wholeheartedly, cheering on every performer. As yet another summer of festivals rolls in, here’s hoping we can have even more fun at even more engaging events far into the future.
