The Korean Festival was created in 1996 by the Chicago Korean American Chamber of Commerce, whose core mission at that time was to develop and promote local Korean Businesses in the Chicagoland area.

Our mission has evolved throughout the years in order to meet the general public demand. The Korean Festival is the only recognized Korean festival in the Midwest region to date.

The Korean Festival is the annual festival held by the Chicago Korean American Chamber of Commerce. It is the largest festival among the Chicago Korean American community. It is held on the second weekend of every August.

Since 1995, the Chicago Korean Festival has presented diverse Korean traditional events and contemporary music concerts to over 70,000 to 80,000 people. Sponsorship Events include a Ssireum (Traditional Korean Wrestling), a Singing Contest, Fashion Show, Senior Citizen Entertainment and Kids Entertainment.

Most participants are Asians, especially Koreans. The Korean community in Chicago consists of over 100,000 Koreans with economic stability, which keeps growing. Until the 13th Korean Festival, about 1,000,000 people have visited this Korean Festival as participants.