Yeongam 2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival Concludes Successfully with Free Programs and Shuttle Service from Naju Station for 4,000 Visitors

The ‘2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival,’ held in Yeongam, Jeonnam—the hometown of the "Saint of Music" Kim Chang-jo (1856~1919), the founder of Gayageum Sanjo—successfully concluded its two-day journey on the 12th.

Under the slogan "Flowing Sanjo," this year's festival took place from September 11 to 12 around the Gayageum Sanjo Theme Park in Yeongam. A total of 27 domestic and international artists performed 12 programs across four venues, including Wolchulsan Gichan Land Bitchan Square, the Gayageum Sanjo Memorial Hall, the Korea Trot Music Center, and the Youth Center, attracting approximately 4,000 spectators over the two days.

The first day, the 11th, opened with an opening ceremony at the Gayageum Sanjo Memorial Hall. Following greetings from Organizing Committee Chairman Do-ol Kim Yong-ok and Artistic Director Won Il, poet Jo Jeong, a native of Hoemun-ri in Yeongam-eup like Kim Chang-jo, read an original poem about Wolchulsan, infusing the festival's start with the sentiment of the hometown.

In the subsequent early Sanjo forum, Professor Lee Jin-won played original Sanjo melodies by directly playing gramophone records from 100 years ago. With music critic Lee So-young serving as the moderator and Gayageum player Lee Ji-young participating as a panelist, they interpreted the early Sanjo melodies that had previously existed only in records into a modern musical language.

The performances crossed genre boundaries. Haegeum player Won Na-kyung wove together Sanjo with Gyeonggi, Namdo, and Seodo vocal music, while electric guitarist Choi Jeong-woo, together with handpan player Jin Seong-eun, translated ‘Free-Form Melody’ into modern instruments. The highlight of the first day was a special East Asian string instrument ensemble featuring Gayageum player Jo Se-rin's lecture, followed by a performance by Japanese Koto player Miki Maruta and Chinese Guzheng player Yehui Chen, which simultaneously revealed the similarities and differences between the string instruments of the three countries.

On the second day, a workshop led by Indian movement artist Ganesha Katara and Kim Ki-young allowed the audience to directly experience the improvisation of sound and gesture. In the afternoon, the forum "Transmission and Creation of Sanjo," moderated by Organizing Committee Chairman Do-ol Kim Yong-ok, was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel, allowing viewers who could not attend in person to participate in the discussion.

Gayageum player Lee Ji-young performed her own Sanjo, which she has refined over 15 years, alongside a dialogue with Artistic Director Won Il, while master Won Jang-hyun conveyed the depth of Sanjo through a dialogue with Jin Ok-seop by sequentially playing the daegeum, geomungo, and taepyeongso.

The festival concluded with a multinational improvisational ensemble, ‘Creative Sinawi,’ led by Music Director Kim Yong-seong. All the domestic and international performers who took the stage over the two days exchanged melodies together, and Jeongga singer Kang Kwon-soon and singer Lim Bong-geum joined as special guests to complete a single session of Sinawi mixed with various nationalities and genres.

Artistic Director Won Il stated, "Sanjo is not music created by one person alone, but music that has been woven and passed down through many hands. We organized it so that the audience could directly see and hear masters, young performers, our traditional instruments, and the instruments of neighboring countries flowing together in one place."

The ‘2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival’ was hosted by Jeonnam-Gwangju and Yeongam County and managed by the Yeongam Culture and Tourism Foundation. This year, the barrier to attendance was lowered by opening all programs for free and operating a free shuttle bus connecting KTX Naju Station to the festival grounds. Performance videos and forum replays are scheduled to be posted on the official YouTube (@sanjofestival).

Introduction to 2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival

The Yeongam Culture and Tourism Foundation operates tourism infrastructure such as Wolchulsan Gichan Land and Gichanjae Guesthouse, and manages large-scale cultural festivals such as the Wangin Culture Festival and the 2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival. Through the preservation of local cultural heritage and the development of tourism content, it serves as a bridge between traditional arts and modern creative culture, promoting Yeongam's cultural identity to the world and fostering local community development.

◆ At a Glance

· Issuing Organization: 2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival

· Category: Cultural Heritage, Music, 2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival

· Distribution: September 18, 2026, 9:00 AM

Source: 2026 Kim Chang-jo Sanjo Festival Press Release (NewsWire)

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