Korea Traditional Drink & Rice Cake Festival 2008

The annual tteok (rice-cake) and liquor festival has returned to the city of Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do (province) prepared to delight visitors with delicacies and traditional performances.

The festival features several food exhibitions showcasing the best dishes from all eight Korean provinces together with Korean traditional culture experience programs, notably that of Silla (57 B.C. – A.D. 935), one of the ancient kingdoms that ruled on the Korean Peninsula. Gyeongju happens to be the capital of that kingdom that lasted 992 years.

Visitors can come to Hwangseong Park in Gyeongju and catch an eyeful of traditional table setting, making rice dough – as all the food and wines are traditionally made of rice in Korea – and other fun performances until next Thursday (Apr. 24).

The six-day festival will also display a selection of tools used to make rice cakes as well as the process for brewing Korean traditional liquor according to the season. The Silla exhibition will exhibit the daily attire of the people all the way up to court dresses worn by royal families and a live demonstration of how people back then dyed and knitted their garments.

Then there's the rice cake competition, in which some 20 teams will participate to show off their prowess in creating a new kind of rice cake. A B-boy dance performance, a singing contest and other various concerts from local regions will be on stage throughout the festival.

The Opening ceremony will begin with the 2008 Miss Gyeongbuk beauty contest together with a night event: Historical Journey Under the Stars, in which visitors are briefed on the culture of Silla by looking around the ancient relics of 1,000 years ago.

Foreign language-speaking volunteers are available in English, Japanese, or Chinese to help make their visit more convenient and enjoyable. Participation is free but you'll have to pay for the booths that sell various dishes. Don't miss the occasional free samplers, however.

Date: April 19-24
Location: Hwangseong Park, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do (North Gyeongsang Province)
Korea Travel Phone: +82-54-1330 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
For more info +82-54-779-6395
Homepage: http://sulddeok.gyeongju.go.kr (Korean)
Transportation: Take a cab in front of Gyeongju station (train) and get off at Hwangseong Park.

Korean traditional liquor festival

Korea is a drinkers' paradise and anyone who has lived in Korea for at least a year or two wouldn't argue with that. Here's an opportunity to take advantage of that to the fullest with the launch of the Korean traditional liquor festival from May 2-3.

Dubbed the Festival of 5000 Years of Korean Taste & Flavor for the World: Meeting Traditional Liquor & Food, visitors can look into some 140 kinds of traditional beverages, 100 types of liquor table setting and another 50 kinds of premium Korean liquor. There are also booths to display the past and present of Korea's intoxicating beverages.

Hosted by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, and Forestry & Fishers and organized by top-rated food institutes in the nation, the festival promises to be presented in grand scale with Korean fan dances, farmers' music bands and demonstrations of various traditional rituals on the sidelines.

Visitors will be able sample free liquor and even take part in the overall brewing process, from yeast trampling, liquor filtering, lectures on drinking manners and making cakes and teas that help cure hangovers.

“Everything is free,” Ahn Man-mool, manager of Business Support Team and Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp, said. “Since the whole event is to promote different kinds of herbal and rice liquor in Korea, visitors can help themselves to their hearts' content.”

Those interested in actual purchases can always ask guides/interpreters that will be available in English, Chinese and Japanese.

Date: May 2-3 from 10a.m. to 6 p.m.
Location: Cheongwoogak, Namsangol Hanok Village
Korea Travel Phone: +82-54-1330 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
For more info: 02-6300-1313~15
E-mail: mmahn123@naver.com
Transportation: Seoul Subway Line 3 or Line 4, Chungmuro Station Exit 3

2008 Rice Cake Exhibition: The 6th Rice-Cake Competition Day

Though not as big in scale compared to the two festivals above, here's another mouth-watering food competition near you in Seoul. It's the 2008 6th Rice Cake Competition under the aegis of the Institute of Korean Traditional Food. The theme of the competition is to boost and globalize the rice cake industry in Korea and on the sidelines stimulate the local rice industry.

The rice cake competition is divided into student, adult and expert classes. Foreign residents can also participate in making the unique Korean snacks and look around the utensil museum for free. Tea ceremonies, lectures on packaging rice cakes and a quiz will also follow, together with other traditional performances to keep up the festivities.

The Institute not only runs a research center but also the famous tteok café (called Jilsiru) that has long become a must-visit place for rice-cake lovers in Seoul, the life-long education center and rice-cake utensil museum. The director of the Institute Yoon Sook-ja is dedicated to promoting Korean dishes abroad and has been conducting various studies and activities accordingly for years.

Date: May 9-10
Address: 164-2 Waryong-dong, Jongno-gu
Contact: 02-741-5477
E-mail: tradicook@hanmail.net
Homepage: www.kfr.or.kr

By Kim Hee-sung
Korea.net staff writer