'Coffee City Festa' Held in Chuncheon, a City with a History of Coffee

9. Online and Offline Events from Sept 3 to 19 at Gubongsan and Other Locations‥ Subtitle 'Let's Coffee Chuncheon'

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Chuncheon City, Gangwon Province, will hold the 'Chuncheon Coffee City Festa' this September.

Chuncheon City announced on the 27th, "We plan to showcase various coffee-related cultural contents to citizens and tourists both online and offline across Chuncheon, including the Gubongsan area where cafes are concentrated, as well as five other districts."

The event, held from September 3rd to 19th, carries the subtitle 'Let's coffee Chuncheon'.

According to the city, the birthplace of coffee is Ethiopia, and Ethiopian troops, who were part of the UN forces, fought battles in Chuncheon during the Korean War.

Furthermore, the 'House of Ethiopia' opened in 1968 at Gongjicheon is historically significant as Korea's first roastery coffee shop, making Chuncheon a key part of Korea's coffee history.

Currently, over 700 coffee-related cafes are thriving in Chuncheon, including five to six streets such as the Gubongsan area, the road to Soyang Dam, Gongjicheon, Seomyeon Hosugil, and the Sinchon-ri area.

In response, the local coffee industry requested the city to hold coffee-related events, and since last year, the city has been promoting the event as part of a large-scale branding marketing effort to support coffee-related self-employed businesses struggling after COVID-19.

Mayor Lee Jae-su stated, "Cafes are no longer just places that sell simple beverages but spaces that create communication and cultural content," adding, "With the recent significant increase in young people starting roastery cafes, we will put effort into industrializing coffee-related sectors by incorporating diverse cultural contents so that they can play a key role in the local economy."