'World Ramen Festival 2025' Receives 0.7 Rating
Reviews Say: "Couldn't Eat Ramen Due to No Hot Water"
Tourists who visited the 'World Ramen Festival' held in Gijang, Busan, have voiced harsh criticism.
According to the city of Busan and other sources on May 6, the '2025 World Ramen Festival,' hosted by the Busan Federation of 16 Districts and Counties for the Disabled and the non-profit organization Hope Boat, opened on May 2 in the area around Gijang-gun, where the Osiria Tourist Complex is located.
The organizers promoted that a variety of programs would be held to match the scale of this ten-day event, including the Ramen Cooking King, Silver Song Festival, Busking, Workers' Song Festival, Korea Ramen Grand Prize, Ramen Fighter, Ramen Festival Song Festival, and Shorts Video Contest.
This year's festival reportedly featured ramen brands from over 15 countries around the world, including major domestic ramen brands as well as those from Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States, and France. Admission was 10,000 won per person.
However, visitors who attended after seeing the great success of last year's Gumi Ramen Festival rated the event as 'below expectations.' There were only two types of domestic ramen available, and it was reported that some visitors could not even eat ramen because there was no hot water. As of the morning of May 6, the festival's rating by those who purchased tickets through a portal site was 0.7.
Photos and videos posted in actual reviews and on social networking services (SNS) showed the venue looking more like a desolate vacant lot than a festival site. Ramen boxes were scattered across the sand-and-gravel ground, and the dirt surface was uneven and dug up.
Among the reviews from about 30 people who purchased tickets through the portal site, harsh criticisms included: "I only saw three types of domestic ramen and three types of Southeast Asian ramen. The ramen cooking machine was broken," "Paying 10,000 won to experience being a refugee," and "Cup noodles were the only option, and there was no hot water from the water dispenser."
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