SEOUL, KOREA — One of the big advantages of being in Korea, with its four distinct seasons, is that there are a variety of things to enjoy depending on the climate. This year, Gangwon-do (Gangwon Province), renowned as one of the best spots for winter festivals, captivated over three million visitors who rallied to enjoy nature’s beauty with winter activities despite the sub-zero temperatures. 

 

1. Inje Bingeo Fishing Festival
The 14th Bingeo Fishing Festival taking place in Inje County this year gathered 170,000 visitors in its first week and continued to draw in more, breaking the 700,000 mark.

The setting for ice-fishing made the festival more entertaining. Rather than fishing for trout trapped inside a contained pool, the festival invited festival-goers to try fishing on top of a frozen stream. The bone-chilling temperatures in late January did not disturb the feeding frenzy of visitors who lied face-down on the ice to take a closer look at the fish. The catches were enjoyed right on-site since they live in clean water of Soyang Lake, where two waterways from mountains converge.

The festival was introduced on CNN Go as one of the top 50 travel destinations of Korea, resulting in attracting more than 7,000 foreigners to the festival site.

2. Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice-Fishing Festival
Ice-fishing seemed to have had a powerful magnetizing effect on foreign tourists. Following the Inje Festival, the Sancheneo Festival also gained fame after it was selected as one of the Seven Winter Wonders by Lonely Planet, a renowned international travel guide, and was introduced on CNN Go.

 

 

The main event of the festival is ice-fishing with bare hands. A few participants who were willing to brave the freezing water jumped into the pool to try the fishing pit. “It was so cold at first that I could hardly move, but when I cooked the catch on site, it became a good memory and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said one of the participants in an interview.

 

3. Pyeongchang Songeo Festival
Starting on December 22 last year, the Songeo Festival organized various hands-on winter activities aside from the main ice-fishing, such as ice-sledding and ice-skating to just name two. The 46-day festival gathered 450,000 people, up from 320,000 last year.

4. Taebaek Snow Festival
According to a survey conducted by a festival portal site, the Taebaek Snow Festival was chosen as the number one festival site Koreans want to go. This year, it snowed often, covering the top of Taebaek Mountain with a white blanket and creating perfect winter scenery. Visitors were also fascinated by the towering snow sculptures in surrounding Taebaek City.

The scenery of Taebaek Mountain will be introduced throughout Europe in Netherland, Belgium, Germany, France, and Spain, courtesy of a Dutch broadcasting station followed by French national TV network M6 who filmed in the area. The program consisting of nine episodes is set to air on NET5 of Netherland and VT4 of Belgium from April 1 to May 27. 

5. Daegwallyeong Snow Festival

Daegwalleyong Festival took place in Pyeongchang, the host city for Korea’s first Winter Olympics in 2018. In reflection of the festival’s theme, “Dream of Pyeongchang,” snow sculptures depicting Olympic sports such as skiing and snowboarding were on display.
The highlight of the festival was the International Topless Marathon. Participants clad only in shorts took part in the marathon despite the negative-20-degree weather, showing that they were determined to fight against the freezing cold.

The number of foreign tourists hiked up this year. Two major reasons were Gangwon-do’s successful bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and the international attention on the area.

*Article from Korea Magazine