Student Cultural Groups Celebrate Lunar New Year with a Bang

Los Angeles, CA - In celebration of Lunar New Year, traditional Korean drumming groups of UCLA, UCI, and USC come together for Ji Shin Balp Ki around Koreatown, visiting local businesses, stopping to perform at major locations, and spreading good luck around the city on Saturday, February 13th. 

Ji Shin Balp Ki, meaning "stepping on evil spirits", is a traditional Korean folk festival celebrating the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Historically, folk-drummers traveled through villages and visited individual houses in order to ward off evil spirits. In return, these villagers welcomed them with treats and refreshments. Ji Shin Balp Ki is a way for the first generation Korean-Americans to reminisce over the traditions of their homeland and provide second generation Korean Americans to re-discover their roots. Ji Shin Balp Ki bridges the different generations and unifies the people that make up its vibrant community. 

Hanoolim, Hansori, and Haneulsori are student organizations based in UCLA, UC Irvine, and USC, respectively, that strive to promote cultural awareness and preserve traditional Korean culture through the practice of traditional Korean drumming. A portion of the proceeds collected will be donated to the clubs to help fund their yearly activities while the rest will be donated to a non-profit organization working for a cause in the Korean-American community. 

The festival will start at 10:00am at the Korean Pavilion Garden on Olympic Blvd and Irolo St. It will then travel east on Olympic toward Vermont, then turn around to head west toward Western. From there, it will continue north up Western. There are planned performance stops at the Koreatown Galleria (3250 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90006) and the Wilshire/Western Metro station. It will conclude at Han Kook Supermarket (124 N Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90004) 

Event organizers will be providing live updates through the Twitter account twitter.com/JiShinBalpKi 

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