Federal Way finds a niche to fill with Korean festival

Two years ago, city and community leaders in Federal Way sought to launch a showcase happening that would play off the city's strengths and help forge a local identity.

This weekend, their dream — the region's first Korean sports and cultural festival — is a reality.

Now they hope Han Woo-Ri, which runs through Sunday at The Commons in Federal Way, will emphasize Korea's place as a modern nation while putting Federal Way on the map in an age of globalization. "We envision this will be Federal Way's signature event," says Korea-born City Councilman Michael Park, who served as mayor in 2000-01.

The multidimensional affair features Korean- and locally-based performers, athletes and celebrities with a general audience in mind. It's the product of leaders' realization that the Northwest lacked a major event highlighting the region's fast-growing Korean population. "That seemed like a good niche to try to fill," says Patrick Doherty, the city's economic-development director.

Koreans comprise 6.4 percent of Federal Way's 87,000 residents and 43 percent of the city's Asians, according to 2005 figures. Meanwhile, the 2000 U.S. Census counted 46,880 people of Korean background statewide, and about 20,000 of them are in King County, with 18,000 more split between Pierce and Snohomish counties.

Han Woo-Ri, which means "united all together," is one of two ideas that emerged in discussions aimed at spending the tourism-targeted money spawned by Federal Way's lodging tax. (The other, a Reebok-sponsored women's triathlon, took place last fall, highlighting the city's amateur sports scene.)

The $500,000 inaugural venture is sponsored by numerous government and corporate sources, including $176,000 collected via the city's lodging tax, $100,000 in county and state money and about $30,000 raised by the Korean community.

Local Korean-themed events have been limited to one-day trade shows or food fairs, event planners say, but there has been nothing on this scale, encompassing art and sport, a combination they pronounce unique even nationwide.

"Most of the time, whenever we do a cultural festival, the theme is mostly the past," Realtor Hee Jung Lee says. But while those events target first-generation immigrants who miss their homeland, Han Woo-Ri performers such as Balkwang — considered by some a Korean version of Broadway sensation "Stomp" — bridge the past with the present, reaching out to younger, U.S.-born generations. "So actually, my kids are excited about going, too," Lee says.

Along with Balkwang, an innovative percussion ensemble blending traditional and original works with Western classics, there's an arts group from Gangwon Province, home to the city of Donghae, with which Federal Way established a sister-city relationship in 2000.

Also generating buzz are contemporary Korean film screenings, an all-star golf tournament and a celebrity soccer team consisting of Korean stars of television and film. The festival also includes cultural events, such as wedding and tea ceremonies.

"It's a big deal for our own community, and good for Federal Way," Lee says.

If the festival is a success, city leaders hope to do it again, though whether it becomes an annual event depends on future funding. But after all those months of planning, it's here. "I'm very excited, but a little bit nervous, too," Lee says. "This is our first try."

Marc Ramirez: 206-464-8102 or mramirez@seattletimes.com