The New Malden Arts Festival extended its reach to Kingston’s Rose Theatre today, as legendary Korean singing sensation Yoon Bock Hee took to the stage to launch four weeks of exciting activities in the borough.

Now in its third year, the annual cultural diversity celebration will be holding events outside of its New Malden home for the first time, with workshops at Kingston College and local schools welcoming performances of traditional Korean art and dance.

Central to the popular event is the grand parade along New Malden High Street on July 4 featuring floats and fancy dress, before jazz and salsa dancing breaks out at the rear of the Fountain pub.

Asian culture is always strongly represented at the festivals thanks to New Malden’s enormous South Korean population - thought to be the largest single community of Koreans outside of Korea - and the theme has been bolstered this year with the arrival of the county’s most successful stage show.

Bringing Nanta (Cookin’) to the Rose between June 18 and June 27 has been a major coup for organisers Theatre 4 All, with the show selling out on Broadway and being voted best performance at the Edinburgh Fringe in recent years.

Organiser Bona Shin said the way the event had blossomed over the past three years had left her “over the moon.”

She said: “It’s the first time we’ve gone outside of New Malden and we’re getting quite large now - it’s just amazing.

“We got so much support we didn’t expect, and there’s still huge potential for the festival to grow bigger.”

More details about the celebrations are available at theatre4all.com.

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