Daejeon Tourism Organization to Host Bread Festival on 28-29
"Waited in Line for 3 Hours... Not a Bread Festival but Bread Hell" Reactions Also
The '2024 Daejeon Bread Festival,' held on the 28th and 29th of this month in Sojedong Cafe Street and the Daedongcheon area of Dong-gu, Daejeon, successfully attracted bread lovers from all over the country.
On the 29th, photos capturing scenes from the Daejeon Bread Festival were steadily uploaded to online communities. These photos showed people waiting in long lines to taste bread from popular bakeries. Additionally, the event venue was so crowded with people that there was literally no room to step.
The event program included an opening ceremony, a 10-meter giant baguette cutting demonstration, a collection of famous bakeries from Daejeon and across the country, an art flea market linked to local commercial districts, bread jam making experiences, performances such as local artist busking and the Baker Brass Band, and a fun quiz show about Daejeon’s honey-jam city bakeries. There were also various side event programs such as the Bread Four-Cut Photo Booth, Bread Crane, 'Ring the Bread Bell! Climbing,' and '100% Winning! Roulette Event,' which participants could join depending on their purchase amount, as well as the Dream Family Photo Zone and the Best Taste Jam Bakery Awards. This year’s Daejeon Bread Festival featured 71 bakeries from the Daejeon area, including Seongsimdang, and 10 bakeries from across the country, an increase of 12 from last year’s 69 bakeries.
Visitors who came with the expectation of meeting famous bakeries from all over the country in one place had to endure waiting in long lines, sometimes taking more than 2 to 3 hours just to enter the venue. This led to some complaints. One netizen said, "I've been to the bread festival several times, but this is the longest line ever. It’s even getting longer." Another said, "It wasn’t a bread festival, it was bread hell. Standing in a line with no beginning or end, waiting endlessly but never able to buy bread felt like being punished in the bread hell 'Bbangokdo'." Some even shared tips, saying, "Even after entering, you have to wait in line again. Run to the popular bakery as soon as you get in."
Not only the event venue but also nearby cafes and restaurants were overflowing with customers, making it difficult to find an empty seat.
In response to this situation, netizens commented, "The no-fun city has become the city of bread," "Daejeon is serious about bread," "This is truly a bread pilgrimage," and "Daejeon became the city of bread because of Seongsimdang." On the other hand, there were negative comments such as, "I’m worried about accidents because of the huge crowd," "I really wanted to go but I’m glad I didn’t," "The venue is in front of my house but seeing the crowd, I don’t dare to go," and "I suffered standing in line for over 3 hours."
Now in its fourth year, the 'Daejeon Bread Festival' is hosted and organized by the Daejeon Tourism Organization, with support from Daejeon Metropolitan City, Dong-gu Office, the Daejeon Branch of the Korea Bakery Association, and Seongsimdang. Daejeon holds the bread festival thanks to the popularity of Seongsimdang, a local bakery operating only in Daejeon. The 2023 Daejeon Bread Festival, held on October 28-29 last year at Seodaejeon Park, attracted 120,000 visitors over two days and ended successfully.
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