Nigerian percussionists and practitioners of Korean traditional drumming will gather in Lagos next week for Janggu Festival 2026, a three-day programme combining workshops, performances and a drumming competition as part of continuing cultural exchanges between Nigeria and the Republic of Korea.

The festival is scheduled to run from Aug. 20 to 22 and is being organised by Drumsview Concept with support from the Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria, according to reports by The Guardian Nigeria and The Nation.

Janggu is a traditional Korean double-headed drum used in a range of musical and performance settings. In Nigeria, training programmes introduced by cultural practitioners and supported by the Korean Cultural Centre have brought the instrument to Nigerian performers while also creating opportunities for exchanges with local percussion traditions, according to the organisers.

The festival will open on Aug. 20 with workshops, masterclasses and refresher sessions at the National Council for Arts and Culture Artists Village at the National Theatre complex in Iganmu, Lagos. Participants are expected to include Janggu players and cultural practitioners from several Lagos communities.

A second round of training is scheduled for Aug. 21 at the Bariga Arts and Crafts Centre, with participants from Bariga, Akoka, the University of Lagos area, and Shomolu expected to take part.

Activities will conclude on Aug. 22 at the J. Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture and History, where organisers have scheduled cultural performances, exhibitions and a Janggu drumming competition. The Lagos centre, which focuses on Yoruba history and cultural presentation, will provide a setting where Korean and Nigerian performance traditions are presented in the same programme.

Nigerian groups expected to participate in the closing programme include Sights and Sounds de l’Afrique, Footprints of David Academy, the Guild of Theatre Arts Drummers, Odidere Art of Africa and Jojo Bodybeats, according to the published programme. Some of the Nigerian ensembles will present indigenous percussion forms alongside Janggu performances.

Organisers link the development of Janggu training in Nigeria to the work of Nigerian percussionist Isioma Williams, who studied aspects of Korean traditional performance in Seoul in 2013. They say subsequent training and mentorship activities introduced Nigerian participants to Janggu techniques and performance practices.

The programme received more formal institutional support in 2016 when the Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria partnered with Drumsview Concept to establish Janggu classes, according to the two Nigerian publications. Since then, workshops and public performances have continued as part of cultural programming connecting practitioners from the two countries.

Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria Director Jeon Juho, in comments carried by the Nigerian media, described the forthcoming festival as an opportunity to strengthen cultural interaction between Nigeria and the Republic of Korea. His remarks were made ahead of what organisers describe as the inaugural Janggu Festival.

The programme comes during a period of active cultural programming in Lagos. The Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria is separately organising the 2026 Poongryu Festival on Aug. 15, another event centred on Korean cultural performance.

Janggu Festival 2026 differs by placing sustained percussion training and collaboration with Nigerian ensembles at the centre of its programme. Rather than presenting Korean performance only as a visiting cultural showcase, the festival incorporates Nigerian performers who have participated in Janggu training and groups working with local percussion traditions.

The closing programme on Aug. 22 is expected to bring those strands together through performances, exhibitions and competition at the J. Randle Centre.