These are sadly the last days of summer in Seoul. However, as it gets cooler and windier, there are still tons of hot events all over town to check out! The summer of festivals after COVID-19 has been full of packed events with thousands of people enjoying park festivals, pool parties, and more. However, there was a new event that happened the last weekend of August. The MicroSeoul Festival is the first of its kind-a music, beer, crypto, and NFT festival celebrating the best of Seoul's Crypto community and artists.
(MicroSeoul Festival Instagram, 2022)
Cryptocurrency is just as popular in Seoul as in the rest of the world. In a country where jobs are hard to come by and college exams are a matter of life and death, it seems like a dream to make a fortune through cryptocurrency. As bitcoin's price rose and people became millionaires overnight, so did the desire to do the same by investing in the next big crypto-currency. Knowing which coin to invest in and which is a rug-pull is hard to find out, but the thrill of possible thousands is worth the risk for many enthusiasts. Over 5.87 million users use the leading cryptocurrency apps in Korea as of May 2021.
The same is to be said about NFT, the newest addition to the crypto craze. NFTs are non-fungible tokens or uncopiable works of art that exist on the blockchain for the art. Artists, celebrities, and companies create characters like the infamous Bored Ape NFTs and sell them through crypto for up to millions of dollars. In Korea, small artists and bigger companies alike are getting into NFTs. At the MicroSeoul Festival, there were NFT exhibitions and booths to advertise the different NFTs offered in Korea. The sponsor of the festival, the company METAVERSE World, even showcased their AI personality called "Rina". She's signed with Sublime in Korea and they did an NFT drop for attendants by taking a picture with her at the show.
Not only was it a festival to celebrate NFTs, but it was also an EDM & Hip Hop music festival. There were performances all day to attract more than just NFT fans to come out. EDM is super popular in Seoul with several EDM clubs and festivals year around. At the festival, local artists, like DJ Soda and Northfacegawd, and international artists alike, such as Fenner and Kaaze, performed on stage. The mix of genres of art brought out huge crowds all weekend and hopes for another festival of its kind to come soon.
Have you ever been to an NFT event? Or an NFT music festival? Let us know below!