Chuncheon Makdak Festival comes alive with the aroma of African coffee, dance and music

【Financial News, Chuncheon = Kim Gi-seop, reporter】Visitors to the Chuncheon Makguksu and Dakgalbi Festival will have a special opportunity to experience African culture with all five senses, enjoying a bowl of makguksu alongside traditional Ethiopian coffee and a percussion performance by a Kenyan troupe.
According to Chuncheon City on the 15th, the city is hosting Africa Week through the 18th in conjunction with this year’s Chuncheon Makguksu and Dakgalbi Festival. In partnership with the Korea-Africa Foundation and the Embassy of Kenya in Korea, the event introduces Africa’s diverse cultures through food, performances, hands-on activities and films.
At the festival’s International Pavilion, members of the Ethiopian community will present a traditional coffee ceremony. In this distinctive Ethiopian ritual, coffee beans are roasted and brewed before being served to guests. Visitors can watch the coffee being prepared and then sample it brewed in the local style.
The Embassy of Kenya in Korea’s promotional booth has been set up as a space to introduce life and culture in Kenya. Visitors can sample Kenyan coffee, try on traditional African clothing and play musical instruments. Local specialties and handicrafts are also on display, offering a chance to experience Africa up close.


The Kenyan performance troupe Kayamba Africa will fire up the main stage. The troupe, which gives traditional African music a modern interpretation, won applause from the audience at the festival’s opening-day celebration on the 14th with its dynamic dancing, percussion and rich harmonies. It will take the stage again at 4 p.m. each day from the 16th through the 18th.
Outside the festival grounds, visitors can encounter Africa on screen. Cinema Africa, held in the first-floor lobby of the Chuncheon City Youth Library, uses films to show aspects of African daily life, society and culture that people may not often have the chance to encounter. Earlier, on the 14th, a special lecture titled “Understanding Africa” was held at Bomnae Middle School with a diplomat from the Embassy of Kenya in Korea as a guest speaker, introducing students to Kenya’s history and everyday culture.
“A cup of coffee roasted and brewed by members of the Ethiopian community themselves, along with the sound of drums from the Kenyan troupe, is bringing an exotic energy to the festival grounds,” a city official said. “I hope you’ll also come to the performances and film screenings continuing through the weekend and get a closer feel for the daily life of a continent that may have seemed far away.”

[email protected] Kim Gi-seop Reporter