Busan’s hottest street dance event, the 2025 Busan Step Up Dance Festival, is back for its third year, bringing world-class dancers, explosive performances, and a near-impossible ticketing race to the Haeundae Film Archive from May 16 to 18.

This youth-driven festival, jointly hosted by Busan City and the Youth Culture Promotion Association, is expanding its program lineup with new competitive categories, live concerts, and K-pop-themed events.

Applications are open until April 7 at the official festival website.

What’s New in 2025:

Busan Representative Selection: A new competition to crown local dance talent.

K-Pop Cover Dance Championship: A fan-favorite event bringing global cover teams to the stage.

Step Up Concert: Featuring live performances by idols like Dongwoo (INFINITE) and JinJin (ASTRO).

Main Competitions:

World Street 1:1 Battle (freestyle, hip-hop, waacking)

Dance Performance World Championship (team)

Busan Representative Selection (local youth)

Judges include a star-studded lineup of elite choreographers and performers: Choi Young-jun (SEVENTEEN’s choreographer), Seven, Renan, Jemin, Wack Queen, and Just Jerk’s Jayho, among others.

Prizes total over 38 million KRW, with top awards of 10 million KRW in the team battle.

Pre-Festival Hype: Random Play Dance & Micro Battles

To build up excitement, the city is hosting a “Step Up Random Play Dance” tour across Busan from March to May. These free, energetic gatherings will hit locations in Songdo on April 12, and Sajik Stadium on May 3. Youth-led micro-competitions like Diopy Vol.6 on April 19 in Suyeong and Groundy Competition on April 26 in Yeongdo are also scheduled.

With massive public interest and major names backing the judging panels, competition spots and audience seats are expected to be in ultra-high demand.

For full schedules and updates, visit busanstepupfestival.com.

Fleet Chinhae

USAG Daegu