Gyeonggi Province has selected 19 festivals, including the Yeoju Ogoknaru Festival, as the ‘2025 Gyeonggi Representative Tourism Festivals’ to revitalize the local economy.
Starting this year, Gyeonggi Province has changed the festival name from ‘Gyeonggi Tourism Festival’ to ‘Gyeonggi Representative Tourism Festival’ to enhance its status, and significantly increased the provincial subsidy from 50 million to 100 million KRW to 150 million to 200 million KRW.
The festivals selected this time are ▲Yangpyeong Yongmunsan Wild Vegetable Festival ▲Icheon Ceramic Festival ▲Yeoju Ceramic Festival ▲Goyang Haengju Cultural Festival ▲Colorful Garden Jarasum Flower Festa ▲Yangju Hoeamsaji Royal Festival ▲Gimpo Aramarine Festival ▲Dongducheon Rock Festival ▲Suwon Jazz Festival ▲Goyang Lake Art Festival ▲Bucheon International Comics Festival ▲Yangju Ten Million Blooming Kochia Festival ▲Anyang Dance Festival ▲Jeongjo Filial Piety Cultural Festival ▲Yeoju Ogoknaru Festival ▲Siheung Wolgot Port Festival ▲Dasan Jeong Yak-yong Cultural Festival ▲Icheon Rice Culture Festival ▲Paju Jangdan Bean Festival.
Earlier, Gyeonggi Province received applications for 32 local festivals from cities and counties through a public contest last month, and conducted presentation evaluations of the festival plans and reviews by the Local Festival Deliberation Committee.
This year’s Gyeonggi Representative Tourism Festivals will be held in various ways from April’s Yangpyeong Yongmunsan Wild Vegetable Festival to November’s Paju Jangdan Bean Festival, totaling 19 festivals.
In particular, the Yeoju Ogoknaru Festival, which received favorable responses from the judges, plans to showcase Yeoju’s unique local characteristics by reenacting the tribute parade based on the historical fact that a central government official in the Joseon Dynasty came down to Yeoju-mok to present tribute rice to the king, offering experiences such as Yeoju rice bibimbap tasting and a Guinness performance of roasted sweet potatoes. The Bucheon International Comics Festival, which is highly popular among young people, is the only festival in Korea focused on comics, providing a variety of attractions, entertainment, and experiences centered on ‘comics.’
The Goyang Haengju Cultural Festival will be held in May, featuring various festival programs that reinterpret the historical and cultural value of Haengju Fortress and the Battle of Haengju in a modern way, including the Haengju Battle stone-throwing contest, Nanta performance, Haengju departure ceremony, Haengju victory ceremony, and the musical Haengju Battle.
Gyeonggi Province plans to provide individual advice and consulting to festivals that were not selected this time to help them grow into representative festivals.
Jang Hyang-jeong, Director of the Tourism Industry Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, “Festivals with excellent content, planning, and operation have been selected as Gyeonggi Representative Tourism Festivals. Although the tourism industry is greatly depressed amid the economic crisis, we will systematically support the Gyeonggi Representative Tourism Festivals to grow and develop into sustainable festivals that benefit the local communities.”
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