Seoul City is recruiting participants for the ‘2025 Hangang University Song Festival’ to be held on May 24th at the riverside stage of Ttukseom Hangang Park. Applications open from March 24th and are open to teams comprised of domestic college and graduate students. This year, the festival will select 10 teams for the final stage from 300 teams on a first-come-first-served basis after going through two rounds of preliminaries.
The ‘Hangang University Song Festival’ is a pure creative music festival emphasizing originality over popularity. Following its inaugural event at Yeouido Hangang Park last year, this marks its second year. Taking into account the limited seating of 2,200 last year that prevented many citizens from viewing the performance, this year’s event will move to the larger 10,000-seat riverside stage at Ttukseom Hangang Park.
Teams wishing to participate must submit documents including names, two self-composed music tracks, and live performance videos, as well as proof of enrollment or re-enrollment via Naver Form or Google Form. The first preliminary round on April 11 will select 30 teams based on audio and video submissions reviewed by music experts. The second preliminary on April 26 will evaluate live performances at the Mulbit Stage in Yeouido Hangang Park, with five judges, including composer Kim Hyung-seok, assessing creativity, performance, and potential for stardom to select the final 10 teams for the finals.
The final stage will take place from 7 p.m. on May 24th at the riverside stage of Ttukseom Hangang Park and will be broadcast live through Seoul City’s YouTube channel and national-level broadcasters. The stage will feature a 200㎡ large stage and a 300-inch LED screen designed to provide an unobstructed view for the audience. A drone show is also planned to beautifully illuminate the spring night over the Hangang River.
Seoul City plans to release videos of pre-interviews and preparations for the finalist teams on the ‘Hangang University Song Festival’ YouTube channel starting May 17, and these will also be shown on a large screen on the event day. Even after the finals, the city intends to support participating teams by providing opportunities to perform at broadcasts, university festivals, and music festivals.
Park Jin-young, director of Seoul’s Future Hangang Headquarters, stated, “We aim to discover outstanding musicians so the ‘Hangang University Song Festival,’ now in its second year, can become a leading cultural and artistic festival for youth in Seoul,” and added, “We anticipate enthusiastic participation from passionate college students.”
