By Honorary Reporter Chiesa Lise from France
Photos = Chiesa Lise

Known as one of the most famous winter festivals in Korea, the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Festival is held for 23 days from Jan. 11 until Feb. 2 in Hwacheon-eup Town, Hwacheon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province. The vast festival site that is spread over 1.8 km is separated into three parts: the snow and ice, stream, and city center culture experiencing zones. I visited the festival on Jan. 11.

During the festival, visitors can enjoy ice fishing and sledding, admire snow sculptures, and look at illuminated displays. There are 75 programs, which include various winter activities and cultural programs.

The most popular activity at the festival is trout ice fishing. This program welcomes all participants from foreigners to family members. Along with ice fishing, catching trout with bare hands is also very popular. The program operates 7 times every hour and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Each person can catch up to 3 fish and participation is restricted for those under 14 years of age, pregnant women, and the elderly.

There are various experiences available, including snow sledding, ice sledding, and bobsledding. The sledding hill invites you to a thrilling experience of sledding down a 40m snow slope and a 100 m ice slope.

You can also look around the world’s largest indoor ice sculpture plaza where there are huge artworks and landmarks from around the world made from snow. Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is one of the most exciting winter festivals where we can enjoy snow and ice-related activities, as well as the winter atmosphere in the Korean countryside.

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.