Fan dancers at the Korean Cultural Festival on Saturday, Nov. 4. Photo by Brookline.News Staff.
The Korean Cultural Festival in Brookline on Saturday, Nov. 4 attracted more than 350 people to enjoy Korean food, music, dance, and cultural activities. The event celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Korean Church of Boston, which has been located on Harvard Street in Brookline since the mid-1960s.
Those in attendance saw Korean fan dances as well as K-POP dancing. They heard music combining piano with ajaeng (a string instrument like a zither played with a slender stick drawn across it like a bow) and gayageum (a plucked zither). They witnessed an awe-inspiring Tae Kwon Do demonstration, had the opportunity to learn to write their names using the Korean alphabet, and were invited to have their pictures taken wearing traditional Korean clothes.
A wide selection of Korean food was offered for free, including bulgogi, (marinated beef) japchae (glass noodles), kimchi (fermented vegetables), kimbap (a bite-sized dish of rice, vegetables and fish wrapped in dried sheets of seaweed), kim (seaweed), yakgwa (a sweet), mandu (dumplings) and tteokbokki (simmered rice cakes).