The 2026 Jeonju International Sori Festival is walking out beyond the seats. The festival is presenting its first "Sori Fringe," which takes locations across downtown Jeonju as its stage, and is publicly recruiting the people who will perform there. It is an experiment that tries to turn an entire day in the city into a single performance, in place of a fixed theater.
The Fringe has no set stage plan. Alleys with low walls, the front yards of shops that have finished preparing for business, shaded spots where people sit for a moment before moving on, these become that day's seating. What sounds where will be decided by the hands of those who answer the call.
Sori is by nature an art with strong materiality. Cowhide stretched taut over a drum barrel gives a different resonance depending on where the palm lands, and silk strings have different tones on dry days and humid days.
Jeonju is a city that has long held sori. Keeping that sound carefully inside a theater and releasing it onto the streets where people come and go both come from the same affection, yet each makes the other uncomfortable. The former preserves the original form but risks becoming a stuffed specimen, and the latter survives but risks drifting into background music.
Downtown performance takes on that tension head-on. The moment it mixes with the calls of shopkeepers drawing in customers, the years a single voice has carried are easily handled on the same level as a noise complaint. What the festival is trying to protect through this experiment will be seen in how the first edition is run.
Anyone considering taking part can begin by watching for the recruitment notice. Viewing schedules, detailed programs and fees will be announced once they are set, and the specific places that will serve as stages will also be announced later. Since these are downtown performances, moving between them will most likely be done on foot.
When a festival leaves the theater, the audience's role changes as well. Rather than buying a ticket and sitting down to wait, it is closer to walking through an alley and running into the sound.
Event Information
Event: 2026 Jeonju International Sori Festival "Sori Fringe"
Venue: Various locations in downtown Jeonju
Participation: Public call for participants
Fees and schedule: Not yet confirmed
