Incheon Metropolitan City announced that the Incheon Tourism Organization hosted the 2025 Incheon Pentaport Music Festival Results Conference on Friday, highlighting the 20th anniversary of one of South Korea’s premier summer music events.
The conference brought together about 20 participants, including music industry experts, advisory committee members, and officials from the city and the Incheon Tourism Organization, to review the festival’s accomplishments and discuss strategies for elevating it into a globally recognized event.
According to big data analysis from KT, one of South Korea’s leading telecom providers, the 2025 Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival — held from August 1 to 3 at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park — attracted a record-breaking crowd of more than 166,000 attendees, the largest in the festival’s history. The event generated an estimated 83.6 billion KRW (approximately 58.5 million USD) in direct economic impact.
This year’s edition introduced several notable upgrades, including pre-event safety consulting by the government-designated Performance Safety Support Center and the expansion of large tent-style cool zones to help concertgoers beat Korea’s midsummer heat.
A major highlight was the Korean debut of British indie rock icons Pulp, alongside various local and international acts. The festival also raised about 20 million KRW (roughly 14,000 USD) through the Hometown Love Donation Program and prioritized local food and beverage vendors to support small businesses. A special 20th-anniversary exhibition celebrated two decades of Pentaport’s legacy, contributing to an impressive audience satisfaction score of 5.83 out of 7.
Advisory members, led by Professor Baek Seung Guk of Inha University’s Department of Cultural Content, praised the festival’s growing international potential. They recommended diversifying its lineup, strengthening global marketing efforts, and developing partnerships with major music festivals abroad.
Further cementing its reputation, the Incheon Pentaport Music Festival ranked No. 1 among summer festivals in South Korea in a consumer satisfaction survey conducted by Financial News and Korea Research earlier this year.
“Incheon Pentaport has evolved over the past two decades into one of Korea’s signature music festivals and a globally recognized cultural brand,” said Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong Bok. “We aim to build on that success by connecting our city’s various events under an umbrella festival model that expands both economic and cultural opportunities for our citizens.”
