Starting Friday, arts lovers in Korea can snag steep discounts on musicals, plays, art fairs and more, with 2.1 million government-funded vouchers up for grabs.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in partnership with the Korea Arts Management Service and the Arts Council Korea, will release 500,000 vouchers for live performances and 1.6 million for exhibitions through five online booking platforms: InterPark, Melon Ticket, Time Ticket, Ticketlink and Yes24. Each person can claim up to two vouchers per platform on a first-come, first-served basis.

Performance vouchers provide a 10,000 won ($7) discount per ticket, while exhibition vouchers take 3,000 won off admission fees. Eligible performances include plays, musicals, classical music, gugak (traditional Korean music), dance and multidisciplinary works, though pop concerts and mainstream dance events are excluded. Exhibition vouchers cover visual arts shows, art fairs and biennales, but not industrial expos.

Vouchers can be reserved online from 10 a.m. Friday until 11:59 p.m. Sept. 19, or until all are claimed, and may be used for events scheduled on or before Nov. 30. To prevent no-shows, purchases must meet a minimum total — 15,000 won for performances and 5,000 won for exhibitions — to qualify for the discount. One voucher may be applied per transaction, though multiple tickets can be purchased at once to meet the minimum.

In a separate effort, Modu Art Theater — Korea’s first performance venue dedicated to artists with disabilities — will issue an additional 10,000 vouchers through its own reservation system.

The ministry has also set up a dedicated hotline for people unfamiliar with online booking, including seniors. For performance inquiries, call 02-2098-2916; for exhibitions, 02-2098-2911.

This voucher rollout is part of a broader cultural stimulus initiative supported by a 100 billion won supplementary budget. Last month, the ministry distributed 4.5 million vouchers worth 6,000 won each for movie theater tickets.

“We hope these performance and exhibition vouchers will make arts and culture more accessible in daily life,” said Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young. “We also expect them to revitalize regional theaters and exhibition spaces.”

Sayart / Kelly.K pittou8181@gmail.com