Seoul Record Fair returns after 2 year hiatus amid pandemic

Seoul Record Fair (SRF), which was launched as the first vinyl record selling event in Korea a decade ago, is set to return this week despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic after a nearly two-year haitus, the SRF committee and fair’s operator Roundx2 announced on Wednesday.

Although the fair will go offline, showcasing performances and selling records and music-related products, it is scheduled for one day only on Saturday this year due to the government’s strengthened COVID-19 measures.

The fair will take place on the first basement floor of Ryse Autograph Collection hotel and the Musinsa Terrace lounge, both located near the Hongdae area in western Seoul. Showcases and performances are set to be held at Strange Fruit and West Bridge Live Hall. Admission is free.

From this year, the SRF also decided to sell partial vinyl records online for the first time. Only those that have been released as limited editions for the fair and unveiled for the first time through the event will be available online, while the sales will begin after the fair.

The 7-inch vinyl singles for girl group Oh My Girl’s “Secret Garden,” EPs for Kim Sawol and Kim Haewon’s collaborative album “Secret” and LPs for Lee Lang’s “There is a Wolf” are the three limited-edition records to be introduced through this year’s SRF.

Including LPs for Kang A-sol’s “The Day of Love,” a total of 24 vinyl records will be opened to the public for the first time at this year’s fair. Two CDs and two cassette tapes are also set to be unveiled. Meanwhile, around 25,000 people visited the fair in 2019 to check out some 40 vinyl records.

Celebrating the fair’s 10th anniversary, the SRF will publish a magazine for the first time as well. The magazine contains content looking back at the fair’s previous years and vinyl record-related information. It also covers multiple interviews of musicians, including collaborators Kim Sawol and Kim Haewon, Oh My Girl and Lee Lang.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)