Cheongdo Bansi Festival Selected as an Excellent Festival by North Gyeongsang Province

Fresh Content Lineup Recognized for Boosting Tourism Promotion and Revitalizing the Local Economy

Cheongdo County (Governor Kim Hasu) announced on January 20 that the Cheongdo Bansi Festival has been selected as an Excellent Festival designated by North Gyeongsang Province for 2026.

In the North Gyeongsang Province-designated festival evaluation, which aims to enhance the competitiveness of representative city and county festivals, the Cheongdo Bansi Festival was recognized for its differentiated content centered on Cheongdo Bansi, a unique local agricultural specialty, as well as its contribution to revitalizing the local economy and its achievements in operating an eco-friendly and safety-focused festival.

Provided by Cheongdo County

With the Cheongdo Bansi Festival being selected as an Excellent Festival by North Gyeongsang Province, Cheongdo County is expected to receive 110 million won in provincial funding over the next two years.

The Cheongdo Bansi Festival is a cultural tourism festival for local agricultural specialties, with 'Cheongdo Bansi,' the nation’s only seedless persimmon, as its core content. It organically links exhibitions, sales, hands-on experiences, performances, and tourism, and has established itself as a sustainable regional festival model that goes beyond a simple local event.

In particular, the 2025 festival was held under the theme "A Good Festival Where People, Economy, and Environment Shine Together," and during the festival period, approximately 350,000 visitors came to Cheongdo.

This brought tangible vitality to Cheongdo’s nine scenic spots, traditional markets, and the local commercial district as a whole, generating a positive economic ripple effect for the region.

Cheongdo County plans to further upgrade the 2026 festival, using its selection as an Excellent Festival as an opportunity.

New content will be introduced to enhance both freshness and visitor engagement, including the augmented reality (AR)-based experience program "Bansi Catch," the interactive coloring activity "Fun(Ban)&See(Si)," and the development of unique foods using Bansi persimmons.

Governor Kim Hasu of Cheongdo County stated, "The selection of the Cheongdo Bansi Festival as an Excellent Festival designated by North Gyeongsang Province is an achievement created together by local residents and visitors. We will continue to develop the Cheongdo Bansi Festival into a sustainable agricultural specialty cultural tourism festival and transform Cheongdo County into a hub city for culture, tourism, and the arts."