Here we are finally on the last day of the festival (our last day of presence – the festival only closes the next day). Nothing is going to go as we had planned. We started this day by walking along Movie Star Road to reach Haundae Beach along the coast. We completely lost track of time, only realizing the time when it started raining; unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get to the show venue. We took shelter in a café, waiting for the rain to stop. We took advantage of the lull to finally have lunch (albeit late) and enjoy a fabulous Tteokbokki and finally taste the renowned Hotteok of Busan. With the next show approaching, we didn’t repeat the previous mistake and promptly headed to the Busan Cinema Center for it.
We arrived very early; the staff members were distributing caffeinated drinks to the audience before entering the hall (sponsor? probably, and we appreciate the gesture, even though the rain cooled things down, it’s still very hot). Once again, we were seated in the front row. Not forgetting the embarrassment of the previous day, I briefly asked if it was possible to be seated farther back. Unfortunately, as the session was full, we had to wait to see if seats would become available. The hall gradually filled up. Not a single seat was left empty. The audience was very young. The vast majority were children; the only adults present seemed to be accompanying the younger ones. We had no idea what we were here to see. It was going to be a big discovery. But it was a real pleasure to see a room filled with children like this. Their excitement was palpable. Indeed, Schoolfoodking is a YouTube channel, an idol for children, followed by more than 1.42 million people! Their success is due to a wealth of unique characters and their joyful content about school life. The show was put together similarly to their online videos, a succession of short sketches with, as live performance requires, beautiful moments of interaction with the audience added. Games were organized between different scenes; both parents and children participated. Lucky spectators received books from the artists, and the luckiest ones could also chat with their idols and take photos. The artists were very accessible (even on stage and during the show). The sketches followed one another; the end of the show was approaching. The artists made the children sing and led the entire audience in a choreography before joining them to sing and dance together. The show was relatively easy to follow. The hall emptied quickly; the artists took a few photos with the festival team to immortalize the moment. The theater lobby was absolutely crowded; spectators lined up to take photos with the artists and get their autographs.
We quickly left to reach our last meeting point. During the previous show, the rain had joined the festival; a number of performances, small circus acts, magic, juggling, were supposed to take place in the urban space for the last day of Comedy Street on Haundae Gunam-ro. Unfortunately, most of the planned shows could not be held. However, the program resumed (and ended) with a DJ Pakou set, who, under his calm appearance of a Buddhist monk, enchanted Haundae Gunam-ro. I saw the crowd gather, grow, dance, sing to the sound of the DJ’s turntables. Perhaps the most impressive thing was the generational mix of the audience. The Korean public likes to have simple fun.
Our stay in Busan ends on these festivities. We wanted to attend a concert scheduled at Gwangalli Beach by the city of Busan for our last evening. Unfortunately, it was canceled due to the rain that day. We will content ourselves with enjoying the beach and the view of the Diamond Bridge before returning to Seoul.
