Korea Arts Council's Art Forest Festival invites 700 donors to Seoul park concert
In short
The Korea Arts Council (ARKO) held the 2026 Art Forest Festival WITH Background Live on Oct 3 at Seoul Children's Grand Park in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, the fourth edition of the event. Instead of tickets, attendance was drawn from 1,821 donations of 5,000 won or more to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund, with 350 winners plus one companion each, 700 people in total. Artists including 10CM, Urban Zakapa, Eric Nam and secret guest Baek Ji-young performed without a fixed stage or timetable, and ARKO said the main performances will be released on YouTube in November.
Read the full story 2 min read
The Korea Arts Council (ARKO) held the 2026 Art Forest Festival WITH Background Live on Oct 3 at Seoul Children's Grand Park in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, ARKO said. The council said it was the fourth edition of the Art Forest Festival, this year staged jointly with the YouTube channel JAYKEEOUT's Background Live, without a fixed stage or timetable. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
Entry worked through donation rather than ticketing. ARKO took applications from people who donated 5,000 won or more to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund and selected 350 by lottery from 1,821 donations; with one companion each, 700 people were invited to the festival, the council said. Proceeds from pre-registration and from on-site experience and donation programmes are to go entirely to the fund, which supports the growth and sustainable activity of young theatre artists. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
10CM, Urban Zakapa and Eric Nam appeared among the visitors in the park, and Baek Ji-young performed as the secret guest, according to the reports. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that Eric Nam, meeting domestic audiences for the first time in three years, appeared dressed as a cafe part-timer and sang “Gate to Heaven” and “Good for You”, while Urban Zakapa appeared between the stage and the audience. Piano performances by Yun Han, the theatre piece “Cruise” and flash mobs from the musicals “Six the Musical” and “A Tale of Two Cities” also took place, as well as participatory programmes such as a portrait booth and a typing-themed station. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
YouTube creators joined as “donation partners”. JAYKEEOUT, Kwon Tto-tto, Joo Ho-da and Jo Hyun-ah's channel ran a project donating 10 won to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund for each view of their content, the reports said, and took part in on-site donation activities. ARKO said the festival's main performances will be produced as Background Live content and released on YouTube in November, so people who could not attend can see the live sets and audience reactions. [ 1 , 3 ]
ARKO chairman Lee Beom-heon said the meaning of this year's festival lay in lowering the threshold so the public could approach arts donation easily through the familiar platform of YouTube, and that he hoped arts sponsorship would become a culture that seeps into daily life like play and a festival. Attendees quoted by Kyunghyang Shinmun described the format positively; one visitor from Gwangju said the concept of removing the boundary between stage and audience and meeting artists up close was novel and enjoyable, and another, who came with her husband and three-year-old daughter from Songpa-gu, Seoul, said she donated and joined because of the charitable purpose. [ 1 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The event tests a model in which cultural philanthropy replaces ticketing, and ARKO plans to spread that model through a YouTube partner channel and creator participation. ARKO says footage released online in November is meant to reach people who could not attend and to widen interest in arts donations. The documents give no figures on how much money was raised, so the scale of the effect on the Theatre Tomorrow Fund is not yet known.
Key facts
- The 2026 Art Forest Festival WITH Background Live was held on Oct 3 at Seoul Children's Grand Park in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, organised by the Korea Arts Council (ARKO). [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- ARKO said this was the fourth edition of the Art Forest Festival. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Attendance was not sold as tickets: 350 people were drawn by lottery from 1,821 donations of 5,000 won or more to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund, and with one companion each a total of 700 people were invited. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Proceeds raised through pre-registration and on-site programmes are to go entirely to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund, which supports young theatre artists. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The festival was staged without a fixed stage or timetable, with 10CM, Urban Zakapa, Eric Nam, pianist Yun Han and secret guest Baek Ji-young taking part. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- ARKO said the main performances will be made into content for the YouTube channel JAYKEEOUT's Background Live and released on YouTube in November. [ 3 ]
- YouTube creators Kwon Tto-tto, Joo Ho-da, JAYKEEOUT and Jo Hyun-ah took part as donation partners, with a project donating 10 won per content view to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund. [ 1 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Korea Arts Council (ARKO) organised the 2026 Art Forest Festival WITH Background Live on Oct 3 at Seoul Children's Grand Park in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The event was the fourth edition of the Art Forest Festival, ARKO said. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Entry was tied to donation rather than ticket purchase: 350 people were selected by lottery from 1,821 donations of 5,000 won or more to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund, giving 700 attendees including companions. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- The Theatre Tomorrow Fund supports the growth and sustainable work of young theatre artists. [ 1 , 3 ]
- 10CM, Urban Zakapa and Eric Nam appeared at the park, and Baek Ji-young performed as the hidden or secret guest. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Pianist Yun Han performed, and the theatre piece “Cruise” and the musicals “Six the Musical” and “A Tale of Two Cities” staged flash mobs. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- The total amount of money raised for the Theatre Tomorrow Fund. Both ARKO-linked reports and the outlets say proceeds will go entirely to the fund but none of the documents gives a total figure.
- Whether the public could attend without a donation-based invitation. Reports describe 700 invited guests but do not say whether anyone else entered the site, so total attendance is unstated.
- The festival's start and end times and any programme schedule. Documents say there was no fixed timetable by design and none of them gives clock times for the event.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kyunghyang Shinmun publishes an on-site account of the Oct 3 festival, including attendee comments and a partial quote from ARKO chairman Lee Beom-heon. [ 1 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun publishes a second piece under the headline that donating to the Theatre Tomorrow Fund brought a festival ticket. [ 2 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily reports that ARKO announced the festival concluded successfully and that key performances will appear on YouTube in November. [ 3 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo summarises the event, the donation-based entry and the YouTube expansion. [ 4 ]