Visitors to this year's K-Food Festa on July 19 look around at Exhibition Hall I of aT Center in the Yangjae-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Seocho-gu District.

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

Photos = Yoo Yeon Gyeong

This year's K-Food Festa 2024 from July 19-21 promoted the excellence of Hansik (traditional food) at Exhibition Hall I of aT Center in the Yangjae-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Seocho-gu District.

This professional industry exhibition promotes the domestic sector and its expansion abroad. Promising candidates to lead the business and hidden regional eateries took part in the event amid heightened attention from visitors and buyers.

Food-related events held over the festival period included the Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cake) Festa, which featured makers of the leading snack food; K-Alcohol Festa with leading domestic breweries; and Kitchen Appliances Industry Exhibition.

Visitors on July 19 taste tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) at this year's K-Food Festa at Exhibition Hall I of aT Center in the Yangjae-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Seocho-gu District.

Each booth at the tteokbokki event was filled with long queues of aficionados, attesting to the food's popularity.

The alcohol event had in one place makers of traditional liquor. Visitors sampled drinks with regional ingredients such as traditional makgeolli (milky rice wine), yakju (clear liquor), distilled hard liquor, wine and alcoholic beverages made from fruit.

The Korean Micro Beer Importers Association introduced renowned imported beers and whiskey to cool off during the hot summer.

Food trucks also sold foreign favorites like tacos, churros, kebabs and sushi, turning aT Center into a large festival where everyone could unite through food.

The festival also displayed meal kits due to the rapid growth of the domestic market for processed foods thanks to a rise in the number of single-person households. The kits included specialties from famous restaurants of regions such as sundae (blood sausage) and rice soup, chicken feet, makguksu (buckwheat noodles), jjimdak (braised chicken) and borigulbi (fermented corvina).

Children on July 19 taste hangwa (traditional confectionery) at this year's K-Food Festa held at Exhibition Hall I of aT Center in the Yangae-dong neighborhood of aT Center in Seoul's Seocho-gu District.

Producers of health functional foods also displayed organic products including 100% domestically produced turmeric powder, red ginseng, caterpillar fungus, brown rice chips and sesame oil.

The K-Spicy Brand Competition Event, which decides on the spiciest brand by visitor vote, had people taste spicy items and vote using a QR system. Those able to eat such foods competed in related challenges.

"We will continue supporting the active promotion and development of distribution channels by domestic food and traditional liquor companies," a member of the festival's secretariat said. "We hope that the K-Food Festa becomes an important opportunity for showing hidden specialty foods by region to visitors."

dusrud21@korea.kr