By Melody Oluwatobi, Honorary Reporter Nigeria.

What better way to start the year than attending a Korean culture festival as a Korean enthusiast? Fun-filled, exciting, glitz, and glamour is not enough to perfectly describe the atmosphere of the Korean Culture Festival that took place on the 2nd of January 2022 at Kernel park, Lagos, Nigeria.

With over 160 attendees, Korean fans all over Lagos came out en mass to celebrate as they connected and networked with fellow K-enthusiasts at the event. This event is the first of its kind in Lagos, an idea initiated by Oreoluwa, Kemi, and Moniade, who are also Korean enthusiasts residing in Lagos. Vendors and Korean merchandise sellers were readily available as fans were able to purchase different merchandise of their choice.

K-enthusiasts in Lagos who missed out on this, definitely missed out big time! The festival was filled with different activities, from tournament games such as Cham Cham, Korean tongue twisters, identify your idol and tug of war to mention a few, to single games such as Jenga, charades, K-pop random dance, and movies, there was something for everyone to participate in.

The event was also graced with the presence of representatives from the Korean embassy in Lagos who interacted with people and took pictures with them. During my interaction with Mr. Jin Homin, administrative staff at the embassy, he stated that they (he and two other Koreans who attended the event) heard about the event from a friend and decided to check it out. In his conversation, he further talked about some of the plans of the embassy to promote the Korean culture in Lagos

It was an amazing experience for me because I had the opportunity to meet fellow K-enthusiasts like myself. it's not every day you meet Korean enthusiasts on the streets of Nigeria. A K-enthusiast I met at the event said to me "it's incredible being in a place where you can express yourself as a K-fan without side talks from people."

As she said, we were just in a world of our own at the festival. People discussed and expressed their opinion about a different aspect of Hallyu, fans grooved to songs of their favorite Korean idols while having fun with the games.

The highlight of the event for me will be the games. Although I wasn't able to participate in the tournament games because I was a co-host of the event, it was amusing watching the participants. Howbeit, I was able to participate in some of the single games.

And yes! We played the famous Red light green game (without the gun of course). I also played Jenga for the first time and it was a worthwhile experience.

Game winners won different gift items sponsored by Soju Nigeria, K beauty Nigeria and others. Some gift items included bottles of Soju and beauty sheet masks from Soju Nigeria and K-Beauty Nigeria.

The only thing missing was Korean food; I hope we have them in subsequent events.

Well, for those who missed the event, here's great news for you. Another one is coming up later in the year!  So get ready!