SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- The 2026 Gumi Ramen Festival will kick off Friday in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, the country's largest ramen-producing city, offering visitors a chance to sample ramen dishes from around the world and enjoy a variety of food and cultural experiences over three days.
The city said Tuesday that this year's festival will focus on developing ramen into a global culinary and cultural experience, with expanded offerings including a cooking competition featuring participants from around the world, unique ramen dishes and hands-on programs.
The highlight of this year's event is the 2026 Gumi Global Ramen Challenge. A total of 1,263 people from 80 countries took part in the online preliminaries, demonstrating the event's global appeal.
Representatives from 13 countries, including Japan, France, the United States, Russia, Mexico and Nigeria, who advanced to the finals, will compete at the festival with ramen dishes reflecting their respective food cultures and creativity.
The festival venue has also expanded.
The number of seats at tables has increased to more than 2,500 from 2,400 last year, while the number of ramen restaurants has grown to 33 from 25.
During the festival, visitors can also enjoy freshly fried ramen-based dishes at 17 stores along the Jinpyeong Food Specialty Street, beyond the main venue around Gumi Station.
The festival will offer 33 unique ramen dishes combining various ingredients and cooking methods, including pine mushroom and black trumpet mushroom ramen, "Neoguri-yaki" and ramen burgers.
Visitors can also buy freshly fried ramen or cook it themselves according to their tastes.
The venue, organized around 12 themes, will feature a variety of street performances and hands-on activities, including Vibe Pub, where visitors can enjoy DJ performances and beer, and Ra-ttelier, a ramen-themed workshop.
"Gumi Ramen Festival Noodles," made with flour produced in Gumi, will also make their debut this year.
The noodles feature a rich, spicy beef broth inspired by traditional beef soup, topped with ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, carrots and bok choy. A limited run of 200,000 packs will be produced.
Since its first edition in 2022, the Gumi Ramen Festival has steadily grown in popularity, establishing itself as a nationwide food festival. It attracted 350,000 visitors last year, with sales of freshly fried ramen reaching about 500,000 units.
Gumi Mayor Kim Jang-ho said the city would continue to link its industrial, agricultural and tourism resources to enhance local value and develop Gumi into a global K-ramen tourism destination.
[Copyright ⓒ K-VIBE. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution are prohibited.]
