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K-Drama festival doing the samba to Brazil for 2026, marks first time event will be held overseas

Published: 22 Oct. 2025, 15:42 Updated: 23 Oct. 2025, 19:44

LIM JEONG-WON
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Members of a cultural delegation from Sao Paulo during this year’s Korea Drama Festival are seen attending a panel event during the festival in Jinju on Oct. 11. [KOREA DRAMA FESTIVAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

The Korea Drama Festival will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil next year, the festival’s organizing committee said Wednesday.

The decision comes after a visit from a cultural delegation from Sao Paulo during this year’s Korea Drama Festival in Jinju. Next year’s edition in Sao Paulo will mark the festival’s first overseas edition.

Held in collaboration with Sao Paulo City Council member Marcio Kenji Ito and 13 visiting delegates, the selection of the location for next year’s edition aims to strengthen cultural cooperation and expand exchanges between Korea and Brazil through K-content, according to the organizing committee.

The Brazilian representatives attended the 2025 Korea Drama Festival and the Korea Drama Awards in Jinju earlier this month, expressing admiration for how the city has become symbolic of Korea’s storytelling industry and a cultural hub for K-dramas.

Ito praised the event as “more than an awards ceremony but a showcase of the cultural depth and industrial power of Hallyu,” adding that the planned Sao Paulo edition would serve as “a symbolic starting point for deeper cultural and political ties between the two nations.”

“The K-Drama Awards in Jinju were unforgettable,” said Simara Agari Simões, a local entrepreneur related to Korean performances. “Our goal is to bring Korean actors, creators and producers to Sao Paulo to recreate that experience for local audiences.”

Members of a cultural delegation from Sao Paulo during this year’s Korea Drama Festival are seen posing for a photo with members from the Korean drama industry during the festival in Jinju on Oct. 11. [KOREA DRAMA FESTIVAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE]

“As K-dramas continue to grow worldwide, this partnership with Brazilian experts opens meaningful new ground for the Korean Wave,” said Go Woo-seok, chair of the Korean Town Development Committee.

The Korea Drama Festival, organized by the Jinju city government in South Gyeongsang and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, kicked off in 2006 to bring more worldwide attention to Korea’s hit drama series.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]