Korat blends Thai tradition and street culture on Shenzhen stage
TCEB’s Uad Mueang project showcased Korat’s creative culture in Shenzhen ahead of plans to stage the K-BATTLE festival in November.
- Korat presented a cultural performance in Shenzhen, China, that blended traditional Thai arts with modern street culture.
- The show fused classical khon and Korat dance with contemporary elements like hip-hop and popping, successfully attracting Chinese audiences and media.
- This performance served as a promotion for Korat's creative industries and a preliminary step towards the K-BATTLE International Street Culture Festival 2026.
- The long-term goal of the initiative is to establish Korat as a city-branded festival destination to boost its economy, tourism, and investment opportunities.
For many people, Korat may bring to mind historical parks or the richness of its natural environment.
The city is now entering a new chapter on the international stage through a contemporary creative presentation by representatives of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau’s (TCEB) Uad Mueang project, who travelled to Shenzhen, China, to take part in MEET Thai Plus 2026 Shenzhen.
The presentation attracted interest from overseas audiences with a performance combining Thai identity and contemporary elements.
The team blended the classical art of khon and traditional Korat dance with hip-hop, popping and contemporary music.
Bringing Eastern and Western cultures together on one stage captured the attention of Chinese audiences and attracted interest from local media.
The presentation provided a powerful form of promotion for the city’s creative industries.
The success in Shenzhen is an important step towards K-BATTLE International Street Culture Festival 2026, which is scheduled to take place from November 20 to 29, 2026.
Korat has a creative cultural ecosystem and a strong community of dancers.
The initiative is also intended to develop young people’s potential at the international level and evolve into a creative-economy platform, connecting Korat with the international stage and creating trade and investment opportunities.
For this year’s festival, Korat is preparing to bring together leading international figures, including a world champion B-boy from South Korea, a French beatbox team and the world-class dance team behind a Beyoncé show, as well as leading Thai artists and DJs such as Khan Thaitanium and Chin Chinawut.
The festival’s ultimate aim extends beyond entertainment.
It seeks to establish a city-branded festival that boosts the economy over the long term and encourages tourists familiar only with Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai or Ayutthaya to see Korat as “a city worth investing in, visiting and living in”.
Cooperation between the public and private sectors through the Uad Mueang project therefore represents an important step in connecting older and younger generations.
It also aims to build a meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) ecosystem that raises Thai festivals to international standards, distributes income locally and drives sustainable growth in the city’s economy.
