Gokseong World Rose Festival, 150,000 Visitors in 6 Days Since Opening

A Vibrant Festival Filled with Colorful Performances and Events

Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that the ‘14th Gokseong World Rose Festival,’ which opened on the 17th, surpassed 150,000 visitors within 6 days of its opening, a 21% increase compared to last year.

The Gokseong Seomjin River Train Village Rose Garden, embroidered with 1,004 varieties of roses from around the world, is currently in full bloom with hundreds of millions of rose blossoms, showcasing the pinnacle of beauty.

[Photo by Gokseong-gun]

The 75,000 square meter rose garden is a place where visitors can see world-class roses from Europe and other regions, which are rarely seen in Korea.

This year’s core concept of the rose festival is 'The RED,' representing Romantic, Excitement, and Delight, symbolizing romance, thrill, and joy. In response, couples and groups dressed in red-themed outfits can be easily spotted throughout the festival grounds.

On weekdays, not only tourists but also local residents enjoy the festival together, with 33 local cultural artists and art groups, as well as singers from Gokseong, performing on stage to promote the rose festival to the world.

On the last Saturday of the festival, the 25th, a more exciting performance titled ‘Amor Trot Tonight’ will be held.

This lively trot concert, enjoyable for all generations, features Kim Yeon-ja, Moon Hee-ok, and the fiery trotman from Gokseong, Lee Su-ho.

On the 26th, the ‘The Delight Rose Gala Show’ with the delight concept will be held, featuring Gokseong-gun ambassador Jin Simon and the Suwajin Band.

Additionally, the festival will conclude spectacularly and energetically with the rock festival diva Jo Yoo-jin’s ‘Cherry Filter’ performance.

Along with the splendid roses, to ensure a lively and happy festival, special performances unique to the Gokseong Rose Festival such as ‘Guerrilla Waltz’ and ‘New Rose Elegance’ will be vividly presented right before visitors’ eyes, providing a rich variety of attractions.

Other side events include the main prize event ‘Find the Lucky Golden Rose,’ held daily, and a newly established event this year called ‘National Rose Summon’ where participants can have their names turned into roses. The ‘Dress Code RED,’ where visitors wearing red clothes post on SNS to receive souvenirs, will continue due to last year’s popularity.

This year, especially to make it a festival with local residents, the festival grounds are not limited to Seomjin River Train Village but programs are placed throughout the region to expand the festival’s scope.

Beautiful Seomjin River Fairy Tale Garden, embroidered with about 100,000 pyeong of wheat fields, will also be utilized by producing and using cello busking videos and performance videos of participants from the World Yodel Festival International Music Concert.

The first attempt this year to create a ‘Zero Disposable Products Festival’ has shown great results, thanks to the active cooperation of food zone operators as well as existing restaurants, stores, and cafes within the festival grounds.

A visitor to the festival said, “If there is a rose paradise, I think it is here at the Gokseong Seomjin River Train Village Rose Garden. It’s my first time seeing such a vast rose garden, and I have never seen so many beautiful roses in my life. I heard that the roses are in full bloom around today, so I feel very happy. Even after the festival ends, since I like roses, I want to come again early in the morning with my friends to enjoy the scent of roses.”

Meanwhile, the Gokseong World Rose Festival was selected as a ‘2024-2025 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Preliminary Festival’ in February for its differentiated content and identity, and it is also a representative festival of Jeollanam-do in 2024.

The festival venue, Seomjin River Train Village, is located at 232 Gicha Village, Ogok-myeon, Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do. Admission fee is 5,000 won, and ticket sales at Seomjin River Train Village during the festival period are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Gokseong = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Cha Jong-seon hss79@asiae.co.kr