The Seoul Metropolitan government kicked off its annual tourist event, Seoul Festa, on Tuesday, marking the event’s return after two years of a pandemic-induced hiatus.

With the ambition to boost tourism in the capital city, the festival kicked off Tuesday for a five-day run across the city until Sunday.

The city embarked on its large-scale, global event with a K-pop concert titled “K-pop Super Live” Tuesday evening at the Olympic Main Stadium in Jamsil Sports Complex, southern Seoul.

The festival’s opening concert featured a group of K-pop A-listers, including boy bands like NCT Dream, Stray Kids, The Boyz, Enhypen, girl group Le Sserafim, NMixx and singers Rain and Psy. They took to the stage for fans who flocked to Seoul from in and out of the country. 

The opening show was scheduled to be broadcast to 118 countries through Terrestial broadcaster KBS but got canceled due to the heavy rain that battered the city. The pre-recorded concert will be aired on Friday via KBS 2TV at 8:30 p.m. (KST).

This year’s Seoul Festa also features the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, an electric car racing series hosted by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, which is slated for Saturday and Sunday, respectively. 

Dubbed the Seoul E-Prix 2022, the two-day race is the final leg of the championship’s 2021-2022 season which began in January and is the city’s first time hosting Formula E. Eleven teams from the United States, France, England, Germany, India and Monaco will compete in the Jamsil Sports Complex.

The city is also hosting Seoul Shopping Festa across the city until the end of this month, offering up to 50 percent discounts on shopping items at some 3,000 department stores, online stores, and duty-free stores. The sales are being jointly run with the nation’s annual Korea Grand Sale hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

On the sidelines of Seoul Festa, the World DJ Festival will return to the physical stage from Thursday to Saturday at the Auxiliary Stadium in Jamsil Sports Complex, Seoul, as part of the government’s tourism campaign. 

“Seoul Festa signals a recovery of tourism in Seoul,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said in a press release.

The city plans to host Seoul Festa every May starting next year in a bid to see the number of foreign visitors to Seoul rise to 28 million over the next four years.

“We’ve made a lot of effort because it’s the first large-scale in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only do we aim to jump-start tourism in Seoul, but we want to take a big step toward making it one of the top five global cities,” Choi Kyung-ju, Director General of the Tourism and Sports Bureau, added.