Huge festival celebrates Korean culture, history

A huge celebration of Korean culture and heritage came to Rancho Cordova recently; it was the second year for the event that has already become a cherished community get-together. The second annual Korean Cultural Festival was held in the parking lot of the KP Market at 10971 Olson Drive on Saturday, May 30. The festival was an all-day affair, complete with friendly dance competitions, vendors offering food, toys, jewelry and more. There were also plenty of informational booths. Christie So is a 17-year-old who attends Saint Francis High School and worked as the emcee of the event; she said the Korean community is more significant than one might think in the region. "There's actually a larger-than-you-might-think Korean-American population, like around Rancho Cordova but just in the Sacramento area in general." So explained. So said the festival is a fun, significant way to celebrate the traditions of Korean culture. This year's event was also a celebration of the life of Lee Ha Jun, who was the last overseas Korean War veteran living in America. "This event is especially important to the older people here because this event was largely organized by older members of the Korean American community," So said. "All from different regions and parts coming together here." So is a student volunteer with the Korean School of Sacramento, which had an enthusiastic booth set up at the festival with a slew of other student volunteers. One project that has been close to the hearts of these volunteers is a book donation event they recently hosted, where they donated used Korean children's books from their school to the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library. These books are reportedly popular items at the library and in recent years have garnered significant interest from the Korean community, a reflection of their strong cultural pride and desire to keep their rich history alive. As for the Korean Cultural Festival, So and other participants say this is just the beginning and plan to continue building on the event for future years. "I feel like specifically it's important to connect with your community, even if you feel kind of distant from it," reflected So. "But it's still important to connect with people in your community and especially learn from those that are older than you, and it's from their experiences that we are able to be here today. And we are here to celebrate them."