Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival keeps heating up

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Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival keeps heating up

Published: 09 Jan. 2025, 18:02

Every winter, one of Korea’s smallest counties hosts one of the country’s biggest festivals. Since 2003, the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival has steadily increased in popularity to draw over 1 million visitors to Hwacheon County, population: 23,000. The 23 days of festivities packs event grounds and nearby communities with crowds 60 to 70 times the number of local residents for some seasonal fun.

This year’s festival begins on Jan. 11 and lasts until Feb. 2 in all areas of Hwacheon Stream and Hwacheon-eup.

Capitalizing on nature

The Sancheoneo Ice Festival was conceived on the back of a weak industrial climate caused by strict limitations on water supply and forestry with a strong military presence in the area, limiting its economic potential. The restrictions led the county government to come up with the idea to turn its pristine nature into a marketable product with a festival, which was named after the family of freshwater fish native to Korean rivers that includes salmon and trout, known in Korean as sancheoneo, and lives only first-grade clean water.

The first Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival was held in 2003 under the slogan “Unfrozen Hearts, Unforgettable Memories.” Since drawing over 220,000 visitors in its first year, the festival has grown to attract over 1 million every year. The event’s popularity surged as more and more visitors came to enjoy Hwacheon’s gift of nature.

The festival’s potential has been consistently recognized by the government as well. Chosen as a preliminary festival by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2004, the event was designated a promising festival in 2006, outstanding festival in 2008 and finally the best festival in 2010, showing exponential growth. It also maintained the position of Korea’s representative festival from 2014 to 2018, and in 2024 became the only winter festival in the country designated a global festival.

Visitors participate in bare hand fishing with their feet in water at the 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. [HWACHEON COUNTY]

Downstream or downhill, tons to do

The 2025 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival features an exclusive sancheoneo experience. People can get to know the fish in various ways. Visitors can try out ice fishing in both reserved and unreserved sessions, and for anyone who missed out on the daytime experience, night fishing is also available. Bare hand fishing is a unique event found only at the festival, allowing curious festival-goers the chance to catch a fish with their own two hands.

Visitors pose while holding up sancheoneo at the 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. [HWACHEON COUNTY]

A visitor holds up a sancheoneo at the ice fishing grounds of the 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. [HWACHEON COUNTY]

Activities on snow and ice allow visitors to enjoy winter’s magic. The Snow Sleigh zone across Hwacheon Stream offers the unforgettable experience of coming down a 100-meter (109-yard) slope and stretch of ice in a special tube sled. In the World Ice Sled zone, visitors can choose from traditional Korean sleds and family sleds or even Santa sleds and North Pole sleds. In the Ice Bobsleigh zone, visitors can ride down a twisting tube at thrilling speeds. The Winter Sports zone provides space for ice soccer, curling and figure skating, while the “Haneulgareugi,” or “Fly to the Sky,” experience is also a fun attraction for those wanting to soar across the festival skies on a zipline.

Miniature artwork of the Harbin Ice and Snow World is displayed in the Ice Sculpture Plaza of 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. [HWACHEON COUNTY]

For fans of visual experiences, the festival has captivating displays of artwork as well. The Indoor Ice Illumination Plaza features a miniature of the Harbin Ice and Snow World — a world famous ice festival — in the Seohwa Mountain Multipurpose Plaza. Over 30 affiliated technicians from Harbin will be presenting some of the finest ice masterpieces. Snow sculptures showcased in the Eolgomi Castle is another artistic highlight that resembles the artifacts of the Sapporo Snow Festival. The Santa Post Office is a special attraction that lets visitors relive their childhood memories, offering the chance to meet the “real” Santa and elves from Finland Rovaniemi—the official hometown of Santa Claus. Night festivals held every weekend on Seondeung Street simulate the Winter Carnival of Quebec.

Foreign visitors go ice fishing in the foreigner fishing zone at the 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. [HWACHEON COUNTY]

Word spreads, crowds grow

The popularity of Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival stretches across the globe, attracting about 100,000 foreign visitors annually. The festival earned global recognition when TIME first posted a photo on its site in its “Pictures of the Week” feature in 2009. In 2011, its reputation grew further when CNN described the festival as one of the “Seven wonders of winter.” This January, The New York Times also highlighted the event as one of the “Five Must See Festivals in Asia This Winter.” Today, over 500 media outlets spread news of the festival to Asia, America, Africa and Europe.

Facilities specially prepared for foreign visitors are noteworthy as well. Interpretation services, shuttle buses, ice fishing zones and resting areas are provided. It is also the only festival that offers a Muslim prayer room.

As a global festival, the Hwacheon event welcomes visitors from around the world with an emphasis on visitors from regions that don’t get snow and ice, such as the southern parts of Asia. The county has been building formal cooperation with large travel agencies in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore from the festival’s first year. This year, the festival launched marketing initiatives in Vietnam, seeking to capitalize on the growing market for Korea-bound tourism.

Local travel agencies are also major customers. Hwacheon County promotes the event to agencies and provides annual presentation sessions to include the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival in their tour programs.

Hundreds of visitors enjoy ice fishing at the 2024 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. [HWACHEON COUNTY]

Ideal ice

The ice grounds of the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival greet thousands of visitors every day during the festival. The county and festival organizer Foundation Corporation NARA made a determined effort to prevent any issues on the ice and at other event sites. The ice grounds are measured and supervised on a daily basis until the festival ends.

Hwacheon County and the foundation aim to control the flow of water in Hwacheon Stream from the upstream spillway, while monitoring the thickness of the ice to sustain perfect quality and a safe thickness. When the festival starts, ice grounds are checked by underwater specialist technicians and CCTV to manage pump facilities and drains in real time from the situation room.

For the world, by the community

Community participation is key to the success of the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival. The shared idea of “my festival, our festival” encourages residents to participate in the full process. Such recognition showed how collective strength can carry a community through unexpected hardships, like when there was sudden rainfall and snowfall in 2023. Everyone gathered to pump out the flooding rainwater and shovel snow. Police and firefighters took care of the overall safety, while volunteer workers and university students working part time kept the festival grounds tidy.

“We are dedicated to ensuring safety and guaranteeing an enjoyable festival,” said Choi Moon-soon, the Hwacheon County governor who also serves as chief director of the festival as well as chairman of Foundation Corporation NARA.

“We will invest our utmost efforts into providing unforgettable memories for every visitor.”

For further details, visit the 2025 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival website (narafestival.com/ice_en).

BY LEE YEBIN [[email protected]]

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