This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Avignon Festival in France, which has officially selected Korean as its invited language. This is the fourth language chosen, following English, Spanish, and Arabic, and the first Asian language to be recognized. Among the 47 official invited works, nine are from Korea. Notable performances include a reading play based on Nobel laureate Han Kang's novel There is No Goodbye and a series by Gu Ja-ha, the first Asian recipient of the International Ibsen Award. This marks the first official invitation for Korean works to Avignon in 28 years, since 1998.
While this is a cause for celebration, the real lesson lies not in the star-studded lineup but in the way the festival has been developed. Avignon, Edinburgh, and Austin are all considered top festival cities, sharing two common traits. Geographically, Avignon is 700 kilometers from Paris, Edinburgh is 650 kilometers from London, and Austin is 2,800 kilometers from New York. None of these cities built new venues specifically for their festivals.
In 1947, director Jean Vilar focused not on the theaters of Paris but on the abandoned 14th-century Palais des Papes in Avignon. The ancient walls, marked by a history of confinement and division, provided a unique outdoor stage, while the summer nights in Provence served as free lighting. This 'reframing' of historical scars as an artistic backdrop transformed the small city of 90,000 into a hub for performing arts, with over 1,600 performances, both official and independent, turning the entire city into a theater for three weeks, generating an annual revenue of 60 million euros.
In the same year, eight theater companies in Edinburgh, not invited to the International Festival, set up stages in churches, warehouses, and alleys around the venue, creating a fringe festival. The organizers did not exclude these groups but instead incorporated them into the system. This openness transformed the entire medieval city, perched on volcanic rock cliffs, into a stage, making it the largest performing arts market where producers from around the world come to acquire new works, generating an economic engine worth 852 million pounds.
Austin represents a modern version of this model. The South by Southwest (SXSW) festival began in 1987 when local journalists sought to promote local bands, utilizing over 600 live music venues and bars as stages. In 1991, the city adopted the slogan 'Live Music Capital of the World,' and the festival is projected to generate an economic impact of $377 million in 2024, attracting 300,000 visitors. Notably, there is a cyclical structure; part of the hotel tax collected during the festival is reinvested into a fund supporting local musicians, fostering a creative ecosystem.
The formula for success can be summarized in two points. First, it is about perspective rather than infrastructure. The palace, fortress, and bar districts existed long before the festival; what changed was the storytelling and branding that reinterpreted these spaces as stages.
Second, it involves a combination of professionalism and community engagement. Artists, planners, and creators design the framework, while local residents and business owners implement it. This collaboration has resulted in a fourfold impact: stimulating creativity, building community, energizing the economy, and enhancing city branding.
In South Korea today, where the power of K-culture is felt daily, festivals often still view themselves as 'charitable events for residents.' The focus on protocol over planning and short-term results has led to a cycle of similar festivals emerging and disappearing. According to the Korea Institute of Local Finance, the number of local festivals is expected to rise to 1,214 in 2025, a 37.3% increase from 884 in 2019, with large festivals costing over 1 billion won doubling from 75 to 149. However, while external visitors increased by 21.1%, the per capita spending growth remained stagnant at around 0%, and local resident participation dropped by an average of 8.6 percentage points. This indicates a growing budget with diminishing returns.
Four recommendations are proposed. First, change the support unit from 'events' to 'consortia.' Support should be directed toward local consortia where artistic directors and creators design the framework, and residents and business owners execute it. Local governments should select multi-year support targets, and the central government should establish agreements with local governments and residents for sustained support over three to five years.
Second, establish a verification system. Visitor numbers, per capita spending, and resident participation rates should be mandatory public indicators, and exemplary cases should be disseminated through an annual 'Korea Festival Performance Presentation.' Starting with ten pilot consortia in the first year would be practical.
Third, create a system to reinvest a portion of festival profits into local creative and development funds. Similar to Austin's hotel tax reinvestment, this would ensure that festivals do not end with consumption but instead reinvest in the creative sources that drive them.
Fourth, delineate the roles of public and private sectors. Avignon operates with a dual structure, where public entities oversee the IN section and a private association established by theaters and companies manages the OFF section. The Edinburgh Fringe Society does not program or operate venues but focuses on ticketing, promotion, and artist support. SXSW is planned and operated by the private sector, while the city handles permits and branding. The principles of public infrastructure and verification, alongside private planning and operation, should be codified.
A well-crafted festival serves as an engine for the local economy, connecting tourism, accommodation, and dining, while also serving as a conduit for K-culture to reach the world. Its strength lies not in the size of the budget but in the depth of perspective that reinterprets resources and the hands of citizens who execute it together. It is the density of festivals, not their quantity, that sustains a city, as demonstrated by these three outlying cities over the past 80 years.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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