GARDEN GROVE : Festival to Celebrate Korean Culture

Traditional Korean folk dances and a laser-beam show will help kick off the 11th annual Orange County Korean Festival tonight.

Grand-opening ceremonies are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at festival grounds in the K.D. (Kyung Dong) Plaza, 9590 Garden Grove Blvd.

Billed as the largest Korean cultural event in Southern California, the festival is expected to attract about 120,000 before ending Sunday night.

A parade with about 100 floats, bands and other attractions is scheduled Saturday at 3 p.m. on Garden Grove Boulevard, which is home to an estimated 1,000 Korean businesses.

Mayor Frank Kessler will be the grand marshal. Disneyland characters and the Fire Department’s new $550,000 ladder truck will also be featured.

Ho Chung, a native of Korea who was elected to the Garden Grove City Council last November, said the festival is designed to keep traditional Korean culture alive and to bring Korean Americans and mainstream Americans together in a sharing of views and backgrounds.

Chung, along with the city of Garden Grove, the Korean Festival Committee and the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, will participate in the “All Americans Together” program Saturday from noon until 2:30 p.m.

Elected and business officials and community leaders have been invited to mingle over Korean foods and be introduced to other facets of Korean heritage--music, dance, traditional dress and history.

Chung said the program “will help to increase understanding and reduce communication gaps.”

Festival Chairman Raymond G. Choi said the festival theme, “Together for a Better Future,” was adopted to give a lift to merchants who have been hurt by the recession.

Choi said about 40 events, such as the Jin-Do dog contest set for 11 a.m. Saturday in Garden Grove Park, are planned in conjunction with the festival.

Jin-Do dogs, native to an island near Korea, have been around since the Stone Age, officials said. The purity of the generally yellow and white dogs has been maintained because of the island’s isolation.

Other festival events include a Korean chorus, a Korean chess tournament, a Tae Kwon Do martial-arts demonstration, a Korean wrestling tournament, a youth song festival, a karaoke contest, a bowling tournament, a fashion show and an all-star show Sunday at 7:30 p.m. with leading Korean entertainers.

A carnival and open-air market will be held all three days on festival grounds.

People can stroll the parade route, from Brookhurst to Magnolia streets, at 2 p.m. Saturday, an hour before the official parade starts.

The festival is sponsored by the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County.