The 24th Annual Taste of Korea Festival is making its return after a three-year hiatus Saturday and Sunday in Skokie’s Oakton Park, featuring a wide variety of food, K-pop and other music and cultural exhibits, including calligraphy and the chance to try on a traditional hanbok dress.
“We’ve been planning for this comeback for a couple years and it was time to bring it back,” said Jenny Lee, the chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Chicago, which organizes the event.
Eight Chicagoland Korean restaurants will offer dishes such as pork belly, bulgogi, tteokbokki, cup rice, gimbap, and soondae.
Tiffany Choi of the Chamber described soondae as a Korean sausage, and said the festival will also offer a Korean liquor called sobu, made by Korean liquor company Jinbo Corp. She described it as somewhat like vodka but lighter and with a milder taste. Wine will also be available at the festival.
Plans call for entertainment to include taekwondo, Korean drumming and music, jazz performances, a K-pop dance competition, a Korean food eating “mukbang” competition and kimchi cooking shows hosted by the Korean Food Promotion Institute in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
“We’re showing how to use kimchee to make a variety of menu items, like casserole or kimchi fried rice,” Choi said.
Various cultural booths will provide experiences such as traditional Korean dress hanbok try-on, origami making, calligraphy and K-beauty. There is also a children’s play area with a bounce house, which has a $5 fee.
“We’ll have a K-pop party at night. with open mic,” Choi said, adding there will be a singing competition next year.
The festival will be held from noon to 9 p.m. both days at Oakton Park, 4701 Oakton St., Skokie. Admission is free, free parking is available in the park’s parking lot and the area is handicapped accessible.