Opening on the 11th... Over 30 Programs Including Sancheoneo Fishing and Snow Sledding
More Than 1 Million Visitors in 23 Days to a Local Government with a Population of 23,000
The Only 'Global Festival' Selected by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Among Domestic Winter Festivals
The ‘2025 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival’ will finally begin this Saturday (the 11th). This year, the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival will be held for 23 days until February 2nd around Hwacheoncheon Stream in Hwacheon-eup, Hwacheon-gun. The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival is a nationally representative festival designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the only global festival among domestic winter festivals.
The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival is the largest winter festival in South Korea, held in Hwacheon-gun, one of the smallest local governments in terms of population (22,922 as of December 31 last year).
Since the festival began in 2003, more than one million tourists have gathered like clouds every January, recreating a spectacular scene. During the festival period, it is difficult to move due to the crowded crowds not only at the festival site but also in the nearby urban areas. Tourists, numbering 60 to 70 times the local population, fill Hwacheon for 23 days.
■ A pristine area with many overlapping regulations... turning weaknesses into opportunities
Hwacheon-gun is a border area with a weak industrial base due to overlapping regulations related to military, environment, water sources, and forests.
After much consideration for regional development momentum, the festival was conceived as a clever plan to utilize the pristine nature protected by harsh weather and various regulations.
Scenes of barehanded Sancheoneo catching at the 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival. Photo by Hwacheon County Office
The festival’s main character is the sancheoneo, a cold-water native salmonid fish living in first-class clean water with dissolved oxygen levels above 9 ppm. In 2003, the first Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival was held under the slogan ‘Unfrozen Affection, Unmelting Memories.’ When the winter festival started that year, a miraculous crowd of 220,000 people flocked to the once unfamiliar mountain village.
The number of tourists, which was 220,000 in 2003, surged to over one million annually from 2006 and has continued since. As the number of tourists increased and word spread, the festival’s popularity skyrocketed.
The Sancheoneo Festival quickly grew, being selected as a preliminary festival by the government in 2004, a promising festival in 2006, an excellent festival in 2008, and a top festival in 2010.
From 2014 to 2018, it maintained the title of ‘Korea’s Representative Festival’ for five consecutive years, and in 2024, it was honored as the only ‘Global Festival’ among domestic winter festivals by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
■ Barehanded sancheoneo catching and ice fishing are the most popular
The main attraction of the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival is the sancheoneo experience. At the festival site, visitors can encounter sancheoneo through ice fishing and barehanded catching. Ice fishing for sancheoneo can be experienced by reservation, but even without a reservation, visitors can use the on-site fishing spots. If you fail to catch sancheoneo during the day, you can try night fishing.
The ‘Ihanchihan Sancheoneo Barehanded Catching’ is an event unique to Hwacheon. For the more than 100,000 foreign visitors each year, dedicated fishing spots and rest areas are also provided.
■ Thrilling 100-meter-plus snow sled slopes and ice rink exclusive tube sleds
The festival site is filled with dozens of experience programs to enjoy snow and ice. At the snow sled park crossing Hwacheoncheon Stream, visitors can have an unforgettable experience sliding down slopes over 100 meters long and ice rinks at high speed using exclusive tube sleds.
At the ice sled experience zone, visitors can try traditional Korean ice sleds and family-type ice sleds made directly by Hwacheon-gun.
Hwacheon-gun performs ice maintenance every night to create the best ice quality. The ‘Ice Bobsleigh’ lets you ride a spiral-shaped tube track, feeling a refreshing speed sensation.
In the winter sports zone, exciting ice soccer and curling programs are available, and figure skating experiences are also possible. Additionally, the sky-splitting experience flying over the festival site guarantees fun that cannot be found anywhere else.
■ Santa Village Post Office relocated from Finland... marvel at ice sculpture artworks
The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival offers a vivid experience of world-famous winter cultures, making it a hot topic not only domestically but also among foreigners.
A scene from Santa Village along with the 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival. Photo by Hwacheon County Office
First, a miniature version of the world-renowned Harbin Ice and Snow World is created at the multipurpose indoor plaza of Seohwasan in Hwacheon-eup. Over 30 local technicians from Harbin are involved in the indoor ice sculpture plaza, showcasing the pinnacle of ice art.
The splendid snow sculpture works around the Ice Bear Castle evoke memories of the large-scale sculptures at the Sapporo Snow Festival. The Santa Post Office set up in the Ice Bear Castle at the festival site was relocated directly from the Santa Post Office in Santa Village, Finland.
Especially this year, the ‘Real Santa’ from Santa Village in Rovaniemi, Finland, visits Hwacheon with the elf fairies, bringing joy and hope to children.
The night festival held every weekend on Seondeung Street is inspired by the Winter Carnival held in Quebec, Canada.
■ Over 100,000 foreign visitors annually... spreading K-tourism worldwide
The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival attracts around 100,000 foreign tourists every year.
The festival gained international fame when the U.S. magazine ‘TIME’ featured aerial photos of the festival site as ‘News of the Week’ in 2009.
Later, in 2011, the U.S. news channel CNN introduced the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival as one of the ‘7 Wonders of Winter’ by citing the world-renowned travel magazine ‘Lonely Planet,’ greatly increasing the festival’s recognition. Now, over 500 festival-related reports are spread annually through foreign media across Asia, America, Africa, and Europe.
In January this year, the prestigious U.S. newspaper The New York Times selected the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival as a ‘must-visit festival in Asia.’
Special considerations are also made for foreign tourists visiting the festival site. Interpretation services and shuttle buses are provided if necessary, and dedicated fishing spots and rest areas operate. Prayer rooms for Muslims are also set up at the festival site.
■ Global promotion and marketing befitting a global festival
The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival, which aims to be a global festival, carries out its promotional strategies within a global network. The main target audience is tourists from countries without snow and ice. In addition, promotions for independent travelers worldwide are also pursued.
Since the early days of the festival, Hwacheon-gun has established cooperative systems with major local travel agencies in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore. Especially from this year, festival marketing has started locally in Vietnam, considered a rising tourism market.
Not only foreign local travel agencies but also inbound travel agencies operating in Korea are among the festival’s main customers. Hwacheon-gun holds annual festival briefing sessions in Seoul to promote the festival to them and include the Sancheoneo Festival in their product courses.
■ Daily ice rink checks... preventing even minor risks to create a ‘safe festival’
At the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival, scenes of tens of thousands of people walking on the huge ice rink simultaneously are repeated daily. For this reason, Hwacheon-gun and the foundation Nara (Chairman and Hwacheon-gun Governor Choi Moon-soon), which organizes various festivals in Hwacheon-gun, devote all efforts to maintaining the ice rink in the best condition and preventing even minor risks in advance.
The ice thickness at the festival site is measured and managed daily without fail from before the festival starts until after it ends and before the thawing period.
Hwacheon-gun and the Nara Foundation control the flow rate and velocity through the weir upstream of Hwacheoncheon Stream while continuously monitoring the ice thickness to maintain perfect ice quality.
Once the festival begins, an underwater inspection team is deployed daily to check the ice, and the festival site control room is equipped with CCTV screens that allow real-time monitoring of pump facilities, weirs, and drainage channels.
■ The best festival created by residents’ autonomy, not by the government?everyone is the protagonist!
The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival is made by the participation of local residents. It is not a formal participation but a strong sense of ‘my festival, our festival,’ affection, and solidarity. This mindset of residents and festival workers stands out even more in times of crisis.
When sudden rain poured, everyone worked together to scoop out the rainwater, and when snow piled up, they cleared the snow together to make paths. Everyone took care of the ice rink overnight, pooling their efforts for the festival’s success.
Moreover, the success of the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival has been led by the participation and interest of all residents, including police and firefighters responsible for security and safety at the festival site, volunteers maintaining cleanliness, and university student part-timers fulfilling their roles in their respective positions.
Choi Moon-soon, Hwacheon-gun Governor and chairman of the Nara Foundation who oversees the festival, said, “We are not letting our guard down to create a safe and enjoyable festival,” adding, “We will do our best to repay the tourists who have waited for the past year with the best festival.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
