The Most Anticipated Festival in Seongbuk-gu... 'World Food Festival Nurimasil'

50,000 Visitors Expected, Held for 19 Days This Year
Food Booths Operated by Embassies of 19 Countries in Korea
Food Prices Set Below 8,000 Won to Prevent Overcharging

Last year's Nurimasil performance. Provided by Seongbuk-gu Office.

Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) announced on the 16th that the ‘Seongbuk World Food Festival Nurimasil,’ scheduled for the 19th, received an overwhelming vote as the ‘festival most anticipated by Seongbuk residents.’

From the 11th to the 14th, Seongbuk-gu conducted a survey on the expectations for the four major representative festivals through the district website. A total of 2,611 people participated in the vote, with the Seongbuk World Food Festival Nurimasil receiving 72%, Seongbukdong Night Walk 15%, European Christmas Festival 8%, and Latin America Festival 5%.

Now in its 16th year, the Seongbuk World Food Festival Nurimasil is a flagship festival in the Gangbuk area, attracting about 50,000 visitors annually. This year, under the slogan ‘The Taste Everyone Lives By,’ it is designed as a place to fully enjoy and savor the diverse and valuable foods and cultures of the world.

The festival will be held on Seongbuk-ro, where many embassies are concentrated, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the 19th. Visitors can get off at Hansung University Station on Subway Line 4 and walk to the festival venue.

Nineteen countries from four continents, including Spain, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Oman, Nepal, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, will participate. Visitors can enjoy a global culinary journey in one place in Seongbukdong by visiting the ‘World Food Chefs’ booths presented by chefs from each country’s embassy.

This year, the festival will also operate the ‘Our Coexistence Chefs’ booth, themed around temple food, local food, and vegan cuisine, as well as the ‘Seongbuk Excellent Chefs’ booth, featuring world foods from local Seongbuk businesses and communities.

Traditional temple food will be showcased by Suwolam, located near the diplomatic housing complex in Seongbuk-gu, and Unseonam, located across from Kookmin University in Jeongneung-dong, representing the Seongbuk Temple Association. Venerable Hyebum, the head monk of Suwolam, is a former instructor at the Jogye Order Korean Temple Food Experience Center and is one of the leading figures promoting the value and popularization of traditional temple cuisine.

Nurimasil will feature dishes such as cucumber dumplings, vegetable pancakes, rice balls, cheonggukjang seaweed rolls, mushroom seasoned fried dishes, eggplant sprout rolls, and lotus leaf rice. The menu is composed of seasonal ingredients like aster and cucumber. Notably, the cucumber dumplings are a distinctive menu item from Suwolam. The containers use puffed rice, making the container itself part of the dish, minimizing waste generation.

All food containers at the event will be reusable, making it an environmentally conscious festival that minimizes waste despite attracting tens of thousands of visitors, while also addressing environmental and climate crises. Additionally, all food prices are set below 8,000 KRW to ensure visitors can enjoy the festival without stress over overpriced charges. The opening ceremony, starting at 11:30 a.m., will feature a resident-participation parade, magic shows, fusion gugak (traditional Korean music), and classical performances.

Mayor Lee Seung-ro said, “I encourage families, couples, and friends to visit this festival where you can experience world food and culture all in one place with just one transportation card and have a happy time.”

Seongbuk-gu is a unique city where over 40 embassies are concentrated, and diverse cultures blend, including international students from eight local universities and marriage immigrants. Nurimasil began as an initiative to understand and respect diversity across race, culture, country, and generation through food, utilizing these regional characteristics.