The International Clarinet Association (ICA) has chosen Songdo, Incheon in South Korea for its 2026 ClarinetFest event, which brings together thousands of professional and amateur music lovers. Its 2024 event was held in Dublin, Ireland and its 2025 gathering will be in Fort Worth, Texas.
CMW caught up with Jessica Harrie, DMA, who is the ICA’s executive director, at the recent Korean MICE Expo held in Songdo.
Q: How useful was your visit to Korea?
A: This was my second time attending Korean MICE Expo. I feel that it is invaluable for individuals and organisations hoping to organise an event in Korea in the future. I think it would be especially helpful for those looking for a more intimate visit or event in Korea, as many of the smaller bureaus are not well represented at similar conferences in the US or Europe.
For the post-fam trip, it was a well organised example of what types of things are possible on a tour. It was helpful to see what types of activities are popular and also to get out and see some of the unique venues, discovering what would be possible in those spaces.
Q: Why did you specifically choose Songdo for your 2026 congress?
A: While we are a rather large organisation, our overheads are very low. We don’t have the budget to organise in some of the more popular major cities. That being said, after working with the Incheon team and viewing the Songdo area, we felt the convenience of the hotels, the size of the ConvensiA and the proximity to so many unique venues in the area, made it the perfect fit for our size and type of conference.
Q: How many participants do you expect for the Korean event?
A: We hope to have between 1,500-2,000 participants at our conference in 2026. The programme is typically five days (four full days and one half day at the art centre is anticipated).
Q: Aside from using ConvensiA as the main venue, which other locations are you considering for workshops concerts and so on?
A: We are looking into renting the Ambassador hotel [Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Incheon, associated with Accor] for a reception and the Incheon Art Center for an excursion concert. We will also organise pre/post tours for our attendees.
Q: How much support are you getting from the host destination?
A: We are still in the early days of our process and we anticipate receiving the maximum amount of support based on the size of our event, both from Incheon Tourism Organisation and Korean Tourism Organisation. We will seek assistance from them in explaining the visa processes as well.
