HWACHEON, South Korea, Jan. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — In this small mountain town near the border with North Korea, winter has once again become a spectacle.
The annual Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, one of the country’s most celebrated seasonal events, has surpassed one million visitors just two weeks after opening, organizers said Saturday — a milestone that underscores the festival’s enduring pull despite unusually challenging weather conditions this year.
As of Friday, 945,908 people had attended the festival since it began on Jan. 10, according to Hwacheon County officials and the NARA Foundation, which oversees the event. With more than 100,000 additional visitors expected over the weekend, the cumulative total crossed the one-million mark.
The festival runs through Feb. 1 in Hwacheon, a town of about 23,000 residents in Gangwon Province, roughly 90 kilometers northeast of Seoul and 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border.
At the heart of the event is the sancheoneo — a species of mountain trout found only in exceptionally clean freshwater — which visitors attempt to catch through holes cut into the frozen Hwacheon Stream. But over the years, the festival has evolved into far more than an ice-fishing competition.
Since its launch in 2003, the event has drawn more than a million visitors nearly every year, earning international recognition and reshaping Hwacheon’s identity from an isolated alpine community into South Korea’s most famous winter destination.
This year’s success came despite unstable temperatures that complicated ice conditions early in the season. Organizers responded by tightening safety protocols, limiting access to fishing zones and increasing the distance between ice holes after underwater inspections revealed uneven ice formation.
The emphasis on caution, officials said, helped maintain public confidence — and attendance.
Beyond fishing, the festival has expanded into a sprawling winter playground. Visitors this year have taken part in snow sledding on 40-meter slopes, glided along a 60-meter stretch of frozen river, and ridden a family-friendly “ice bobsleigh” — a spiral tube structure built by the county government.
Indoor venues added a global flair. The Seohwasan Multipurpose Indoor Plaza featured a miniature version of China’s famed Harbin Ice and Snow World, with about 30 ice artists from Harbin presenting intricate sculptures. Nearby, illuminated snow installations around Eolgomi Castle evoked the grandeur of Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival.
Other attractions reflected inspirations from across the world: a Santa Post Office modeled after its counterpart in Finland’s Santa Claus Village, and weekend night festivals along Seondeung Street, where glowing sancheoneo lanterns and LED displays recalled Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival.
For Hwacheon, the festival has become both an economic lifeline and a point of pride — a moment each year when a quiet border town briefly becomes the center of the country’s winter imagination.
HWACHEON, South Korea — In this small mountain town near the border with North Korea, winter has once again become a spectacle.
The annual Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival, one of the country’s most celebrated seasonal events, has surpassed one million visitors just two weeks after opening, organizers said Saturday — a milestone that underscores the festival’s enduring pull despite unusually challenging weather conditions this year.
As of Friday, 945,908 people had attended the festival since it began on Jan. 10, according to Hwacheon County officials and the NARA Foundation, which oversees the event. With more than 100,000 additional visitors expected over the weekend, the cumulative total crossed the one-million mark.
The festival runs through Feb. 1 in Hwacheon, a town of about 23,000 residents in Gangwon Province, roughly 90 kilometers northeast of Seoul and 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border.
At the heart of the event is the sancheoneo — a species of mountain trout found only in exceptionally clean freshwater — which visitors attempt to catch through holes cut into the frozen Hwacheon Stream. But over the years, the festival has evolved into far more than an ice-fishing competition.
Since its launch in 2003, the event has drawn more than a million visitors nearly every year, earning international recognition and reshaping Hwacheon’s identity from an isolated alpine community into South Korea’s most famous winter destination.
This year’s success came despite unstable temperatures that complicated ice conditions early in the season. Organizers responded by tightening safety protocols, limiting access to fishing zones and increasing the distance between ice holes after underwater inspections revealed uneven ice formation.
The emphasis on caution, officials said, helped maintain public confidence — and attendance.
Beyond fishing, the festival has expanded into a sprawling winter playground. Visitors this year have taken part in snow sledding on 40-meter slopes, glided along a 60-meter stretch of frozen river, and ridden a family-friendly “ice bobsleigh” — a spiral tube structure built by the county government.
Indoor venues added a global flair. The Seohwasan Multipurpose Indoor Plaza featured a miniature version of China’s famed Harbin Ice and Snow World, with about 30 ice artists from Harbin presenting intricate sculptures. Nearby, illuminated snow installations around Eolgomi Castle evoked the grandeur of Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival.
Other attractions reflected inspirations from across the world: a Santa Post Office modeled after its counterpart in Finland’s Santa Claus Village, and weekend night festivals along Seondeung Street, where glowing sancheoneo lanterns and LED displays recalled Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival.
For Hwacheon, the festival has become both an economic lifeline and a point of pride — a moment each year when a quiet border town briefly becomes the center of the country’s winter imagination.
Image credit: Hwacheon-gun, Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
