Korea Festa brings K-pop, Korean food and more to Long Island

The pop-culture zeitgeist has put a spotlight on Korea with the popularity of Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters” and “Squid Game,” K-pop boy band BTS and various independent films (“Parasite,” “Past Lives”). That energy is coming to Long Island with Korea Festa in Huntington, Aug. 30-Sept. 1, presented by Good News New York Church and International Youth Fellowship USA.

"People are very interested in Korean culture these days and we are riding that wave,” event organizer Daniel Oh said. “The focus is to spread Korean joy all throughout Long Island. We also want to introduce people to our church, which has been in Huntington for over two decades.“

The Labor Day weekend event will be packed with Korean experiences for people to enjoy. Here are the highlights.

Food to try

The menu will be filled with Korean specialty dishes and authentic street food made by the church congregants.

“The big way we bond as a family and connect with the community is through food,” Oh said. “Street food is not big bites, they are small bites. You get access to a lot of different types all in one place and this way you can taste everything.”

Try the bibimbap ($14), a Korean rice bowl with marinated beef, fried egg, assorted vegetables, white rice, gochujang; japchae ($14), featuring Korean glass noodles stir-fried with assorted vegetables; and pajeon ($10.50), a Korean scallion pancake.

Some of the most popular items are the rice cake bowls creamy tteokbokki ($14) and spicy tteokbokki ($10.50); the Korean corn dog ($7); and the big seller, tornado potato ($7), a fried potato on a stick.

“We have a special machine that we cut a whole potato up to make it look like a swirl,” Oh said. “You can sprinkle it with whatever topping you want from salt to brown sugar.”

Signature handcrafted drinks will be available, such as iced strawberry matcha ($7); Dalgona latte ($7) made with honeycomb sugar candy, pineapple passionfruit ade ($7); and more.

Need something sweet? Pick up some bungeoppang ($3.50), a sweet red bean fish-shaped pastry; shibwonppang ($7), a bread/pancake shell with mozzarella cheese), hotteok ($3.50), a sweet pancake with filling; kkwabaegi ($3.50) a twisted doughnut, or bingsu ($14), milk snowflakes with assorted toppings.

Outdoor entertainment

The Memphis Belle dance team, which is based in Huntington, will be performing throughout each day, doing everything from hip-hop to jazz. Additionally, 20-minute K-pop dance classes run twice in the afternoon, where kids can learn choreography from a famous K-pop song.

Experience your own 15 seconds of fame during Hanbok Try-on Haul by donning traditional Korean suits and dresses before walking down a runway for a fun photo op.

Crafts and games

Get crafty by delving into various Korean artistic activities such as paper folding (free), charm making ($3.50), fan/mask painting ($3.50) and calligraphy (free).

Play the Korean version of Red Light, Green Light like in “Squid Game” or get in the Big Pig Fight, a traditional wrestling game where you sit and only use your feet. You can also do the limbo, try the giant Korean trivia challenge, the OX Game or take on a rubber band jump rope.

Shop and photo op

Attendees can shop for dried Korean goods at KF-SUPER, a market where there will be “The Ramyun Dynasty,” a make-your-own ramen station with a wide variety of flavors.

Before leaving snap some selfies at the Korean-themed 3D Photo Booth.