June 22-23 Event at Hwamyeong Ecological Park Auto Camping Site and Lotus Complex
'Meal Food Select Shop' Featuring Michelin Guide and Local Restaurant Cuisine
Busan City will host the '2024 Busan Wheat Festival' - 'Utopia for Wheat Enthusiasts' from June 22 to 23 at the Hwamyeong Ecological Park Auto Camping Site and the Lotus Complex.
This festival is designed to allow visitors to experience a wider and deeper variety of popular foods made from wheat, one of the world’s three major staple crops.
Based on the history of Gupo in Buk-gu, which became a major wheat distribution center after the Korean War, the city is introducing a new festival to the western Busan area by combining the recent trend of gourmet tourism with local festivities.
In particular, 'Utopia for Wheat Enthusiasts' is this year’s sub-theme for the Busan Wheat Festival, succinctly expressing the purpose and atmosphere of the event and drawing public attention.
The festival will feature a variety of programs centered around the Wheat Food Lounge, including talk concerts and hands-on and collaborative events, offering a rich and diverse experience for all attendees.
First, the Hwamyeong Auto Camping Site will be transformed into a 'Wheat Lounge' where visitors can enjoy foods made primarily from wheat at the 'Wheat Food Select Shop,' and participate in the 'Wheat & Wit Concert,' which covers a wide range of humanities topics related to wheat.
The 'Wheat Food Select Shop' will feature local restaurants as well as Michelin Guide-listed venues, all offering dishes made with wheat as the main ingredient. Visitors can try a variety of foods including pasta, gnocchi, ramen, Milmyeon, craft burgers, Makgeolli, and wheat beer.
The 'Wheat & Wit Concert' will explore the world of wheat through various topics such as history, science, and art. Participants include science communicator Gwedo, history storyteller Sun Kim, food columnist Park Sanghyun, and culinary researcher Hong Shinae, who will provide both informative and entertaining sessions. In addition, there will be street performances featuring music and magic.
The upper part of the Hwamyeong Ecological Park Lotus Complex will be set up as a 'Picnic Lounge,' where the 'Street Food Lounge' and local business collaboration programs will be operated against the backdrop of the lotus wetlands.
While the Wheat Lounge is a space for those deeply interested in wheat-based cuisine and history, the Picnic Lounge offers a lighter introduction to wheat. The Picnic Lounge will feature wheat-related exhibitions, hands-on experiences, a market, street performances, and food trucks. The 'Street Food Lounge,' filled with food trucks, allows visitors to enjoy not only wheat-based dishes but also a variety of other foods while relaxing.
There will also be exhibitions and lectures on Korean wheat organized by the National Institute of Food Science, as well as various hands-on programs such as making wheat yakgwa. In addition, visitors can enjoy water sports, an ecological exploration boat on the Nakdong River, and noodle-making experiences in collaboration with the Gupo Noodle Experience Center and other local programs.
This year’s festival will introduce a 'pre-reservation' system and a 'self-order' method using on-site QR codes.
Certain menu items at the 'Wheat Food Select Shop' will be available in limited quantities, and package deals featuring dishes from both Michelin Guide and local restaurants can only be ordered in advance. On-site, visitors can order food via QR code and receive a notification message when their order is ready for pickup, making it easy to enjoy the festival.
For more information, please visit the Busan Cultural Tourism Festival Organizing Committee website. The lineup for the 'Wheat Food Select Shop' and 'Wheat & Wit Concert' will be announced separately at a later date.
Park Geunrok, Director of Tourism and MICE at the city, stated, "Gourmet content is rapidly emerging as a promising urban tourism resource. We hope that the 2024 Busan Wheat Festival will establish gourmet tourism as a new trend in Busan," adding, "We invite all citizens and tourists to participate and show great interest in this festival taking place in western Busan."
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