Thanks to the 'Donghaeng Festival'... Foundation for Growth of SMEs and Small Business Owners Including Factory Expansion

The Nation's Largest Domestic Demand Revitalization Festival
Final Donghaeng Festival of the Year Held Until the 28th

The Donghaeng Festival is playing a significant role as a foundation for the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners. The Donghaeng Festival, the largest domestic event promoting the consumption of SME and small business products, is celebrating its fifth year this year.

According to the Korea SMEs and Startups Distribution Center on the 26th, the enthusiasm of companies participating in the Donghaeng Festival is growing stronger year by year. Participation in the Donghaeng Festival leads to a definite increase in sales, directly contributing to business growth.

Thanks to the 'Donghaeng Festival'... Foundation for Growth of SMEs and Small Business Owners Including Factory Expansion

On the 6th, the opening ceremony of the December Donghaeng Festival at Red Road, Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

The Donghaeng Festival was first held under the name "Donghaeng Sale" to revitalize the domestic market, which had frozen due to COVID-19. Recognized for its support achievements and purpose last year, the event, which was held once a year, was expanded to three times a year, and its name was changed from Donghaeng Sale to Donghaeng Festival. Last year, the Donghaeng Festival recorded sales support performance of approximately 4 trillion won, achieving the highest results since the event's inception.

The Donghaeng Festival continues its success this year as well. The event held in May achieved sales of about 1.3 trillion won, an increase of 100 billion won compared to the same event last year. The September event achieved sales of 2.4 trillion won, surpassing 2 trillion won in sales for the first time for a single event.

The December Donghaeng Festival, held from the 1st to the 28th of this month, is also heating up. Within just half a month after the event started, sales reached 307.6 billion won. Approximately 24,000 people visited the opening special event held from the 6th to the 8th at the Hongdae Walkable Street shopping district. This event involved about 20,000 SMEs and small business owners, around 190 online and offline distribution channels, 1,955 traditional markets and shopping districts, and 2,313 Baeknyeon Stores (century-old stores).

Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is encouraging the participating merchants while touring the event venue at the opening ceremony of the 'December Together Festival' held on the 6th at Red Road in Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Participating companies also have a positive perception of the Donghaeng Festival. Shin Eun-seok, CEO of Gwanju Food, said, "As a small business owner, I felt burdened by the fees, advertising costs, and coupon expenses required for online platforms, so I decided to participate in the Donghaeng Festival for the first time to receive support in these areas." He explained, "During the months when the Donghaeng Festival is held, sales increase by more than 30% compared to other months." Gwanju Food is a company that manufactures and sells health supplements using local agricultural products in Danyang, Chungbuk. Its representative product is black balloon flower root syrup made using patented technology.

Based on the achievements from participating in the Donghaeng Festival, Gwanju Food is also expanding its business. CEO Shin said, "We plan to expand a new factory next year using the funds raised through the Donghaeng Festival," adding, "We aim for sales of 10 billion won by 2026 and will definitely participate in next year's Donghaeng Festival."

Meanwhile, in this December Donghaeng Festival, 100 representative products were selected from among the products of about 600 SMEs and small business owners who participated in the May and September events and were chosen by consumers and experts. These products can be found at reasonable prices both online and offline through various promotional events such as live commerce and online special exhibitions.