The 2025 world-famous Sancheoneo Hwacheon Ice Fishing Festival, one of Korea's most popular winter events, has just concluded with a record 1.86 million visitors, breaking the 1.84 million mark set in 2019.
The festival kicked off on January 11 in Hwacheon, a remote mountain town in Gangwon Province, about 90 kilometers northeast of Seoul, according to the organizers. The unique festival, held on a frozen river, attracted not only a large number of locals but also 122,000 international visitors, a sharp increase from last year's 85,000, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Participating in the ice fishing festival is one of the most unique experiences in winter tourism in Korea. Visitors will be given fishing equipment, then choose a hole in the ice on the river surface and drop the fishing rod into the water. Interestingly, not only professional fishermen but also beginners have the opportunity to catch Sancheoneo salmon, a type of mountain trout typical of cold freshwater, living in the icy rivers of Gangwon Province. In addition to fishing, visitors can ski, try on bubble costumes, visit science-related booths and watch global winter cultural programs.
First held in 2003, the Sancheoneo Hwacheon Ice Fishing Festival was voted the best festival in the country in 2010 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea. The festival attracted more than 1 million visitors for 13 consecutive years, from 2006 to 2019. Last year's festival season alone attracted 1.31 million visitors, after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Hwacheon City government has described the ice fishing festival as a pillar of the local economy, generating a direct economic impact of more than 100 billion won ($76.5 billion) a year. The festival has also attracted global attention through images of thousands of people trying to catch Sancheoneo fish by hand through holes cut in the frozen river, as well as participating in skiing, ice soccer and other events.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/ky-luc-so-nguoi-cau-ca-tren-bang-o-han-quoc-post858576.html
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