Gyeonggi Province announced on March 1 that it would operate a community-to-community program, investing a budget of KRW 2.5 billion and selecting approximately 500 performance groups.

The program will be implemented in the 31 cities and counties of the province with a total of 1,090 performances being held.

The program has been designed to provide various opportunities to enjoy cultural activities to residents with limited access to such experiences, and activity spaces for artists. The program will feature performances from different genres, including operas, vocal music, traditional and modern dance, ballet, dramas, musicals, miming, puppet shows, and more.

Gyeonggi Province will support the participation of performing companies that have disabled, elderly, multicultural, or North Korean refugee members by granting extra points to these companies in the selection of partner groups.

In addition, the province will increase the ratio of facilities for culturally disadvantaged groups and educational institutions among beneficiary facilities from last year’s figure of 50% to 80% so as to provide more cultural experiences to these groups of residents.

Last year, the program involved 478 performing companies staging 1,060 performances that were viewed by 145,762 residents.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province also plans to hold 1,330 street performances in 27 cities and counties in the province to expand opportunities for amateur artists to meet audiences. Performance venues will be selected from among areas with large floating populations that are suitable for regular performances, and will be developed as local attractions.

Gyeonggi Province’s street performance program saw participation by 877 groups, which staged 1,313 performances that were viewed by a total of 202,303 people.

A Gyeonggi Province official stated, “In 2016, Gyeonggi Province had the third highest cultural event attendance rate by residents according to a survey by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, with an attendance rate of 84.4%, which was significantly higher than the national average of 78%. We will continue in our efforts to expand opportunities for residents to enjoy and participate in cultural experiences in their daily lives through these community-to-community and street cultural performance programs.”