On April 13 2026 the doors of Brasília’s Convention Center opened to the inaugural K-Festival, a three-day cultural and business forum marking six decades since the first wave of South-Korean settlers arrived in Brazil. Organized by the South Korean Embassy and the Federal District’s tourism board, the event features K-pop concerts, street-food fairs, and a mini-job-fair where Korean conglomerates in Brazil—Hyundai, LG, and Posco among them—interview bilingual talent for trainee programs. The Korean diaspora in Brazil numbers roughly 60,000, concentrated in São Paulo’s Bom Retiro district. Embassy officials used the festival to announce an extension of multiple-entry C-3 short-term visit visas for Brazilian business travelers from 90 to 180 days, effective May 1, easing travel for suppliers hopping between the two countries’ rapidly growing semiconductor and electric-vehicle supply chains. Local authorities expect the festival to draw 40,000 visitors, generating R$35 million (about US$6.7 million) in hotel, transport, and dining revenue. Travel agents are packaging "K-Culture" itineraries that combine festival tickets with side trips to Goiânia’s Korean farming cooperatives, underlining how cultural diplomacy can stimulate domestic tourism flows. For mobility managers, the new 180-day Korean multiple-entry visa reduces the need for re-filing and can be paired with Brazil’s existing visa-waiver for South Koreans, enabling easier rotation of project teams across the Pacific. Event organizers say the festival will become an annual fixture, alternating between Brasília, São Paulo, and Recife, each home to significant Korean corporate footprints.
Source: Correio Braziliense
